A Trail of Memories 2
by animechick247
Summary: Hikari is back on another quest to find Riku. But when the Organization and her heart give her problems, it just makes things from bad, to worse. Plus, she starts to remember her dark and twisted past.
1. Summer Vacation

Chapter 1: Summer Vacation

**A/N: Hello my darling readers! We're finally at the story you've all been waiting for! Hikari is back for another adventure! Will she be able to find her beloved Riku? You'll just have to find out.**

**This will be the last time that we see Ankoku, but fear not, we may see her towards the ending.**

**I know this chapter is really long, but I want Hikari be appearing in the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari, Ankoku, Taiyouko and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory._

_A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream._

_I want to line the pieces up-yours and mine._

/

_Day 1_

Ankoku sighed as she sat up in her bed.

She saw more of Hikari's memories as she slept for the night.

She figured it was because she was under Diz's control now and that it was just a reminder of where she has to return.

She looked out of her bedroom window that Diz made her.

Her mind went back to before he brought Roxas, Tsukiko and herself in this data version of Twilight Town.

/

_Diz placed an unconscious Roxas on some sort of device before typing something into a computer._

_Tsukiko was up against the wall out cold while Ankoku was held by Taiyouko._

_The sorceress glared at Diz as he continued to type._

"_This is wrong and you know it" she said._

_Diz just glared at her._

"_Keep your mouth shut" he ordered._

"_You have much to blame for this as all of us do"_

_Taiyouko growled and was about to lunge for him, but Riku held her back._

_He simply shook his head._

_He still had his hood up, so no one could see his face._

_He was too ashamed of what he became._

_He looked at Diz._

"_Will it work?" he asked._

_Diz nodded._

"_If we can maintain the simulated town until Namine finishes chaining together Sora and Hikari's memories" he said._

_Riku looked at Roxas and Ankoku._

"_What will happen to them?"_

_Diz went back to the computer to type something in._

"_They hold half of Sora and Hikari's powers within themselves" he said._

"_In the end, they'll have to give it back. Until then, Roxas will need another personality to throw off their pursuers"_

_Taiyouko looked at him._

"_Why change his memory but not Ankoku's?" she asked._

"_She has the ability to see into the future" Diz said._

"_We'll need that if we want everything to go as planned. She should be lucky that I'm willing to let her keep her memories"_

_Riku looked at them sadly._

"_Poor things" he said._

_Diz scoffed._

"_It is the fate of a nobody" he said._

_He looked at Tsukiko._

"_Once I've taken care of them, then I'll start with her" he said._

_Taiyouko protested at that._

"_You can't do that!" she cried._

_Diz glared at her._

"_Silence!" he snapped._

_Taiyouko bit her lip and took a step back._

_The sound of Diz shouting woke Ankoku up._

_Her eyes fluttered open to find herself in some sort of computer room._

"_Where am I?" she asked._

_She saw Roxas out of the corner of her eye._

"_Roxas!" she cried._

_She jumped out of Taiyouko's arms and checked to see how her twin brother was doing._

_She looked at Diz._

"_What did you do to him?" she asked._

_Diz scoffed._

"_I just had to give him false memories to throw off the Organization" he said._

"_But don't 'worry', he'll still remember you"_

_Ankoku nodded sadly._

_She figured this was for the best._

_If he found out what was going to happen to him, he would flip._

_She was Tsukiko sitting next to her with her head down._

_Memories of what Diz did to her flooded her mind._

_She glared at Diz._

"_Why did you drag Tsukiko in?" she asked._

"_She had nothing to do with this"_

_Diz scoffed._

"_Oh please" he said._

"_That nobody been involved long before you were created. She should never have been created in the first place"_

_Ankoku growled and rose to her feet._

"_What do you mean she's a nobody?" she asked._

"_What are you talking about?"_

_Diz looked at her._

"_That is none of your concern" he said._

"_Instead of worrying about useless things, try to focus more on returning Hikari's memories back to her"_

_Ankoku glared at him._

_No one told her what to do._

_Diz stepped back slightly when she pointed one of her keyblades at him._

_Riku was about to stop her, but Taiyouko held him back._

"_Listen here, pal" Ankoku said._

"_Just because I agreed to return to Hikari, doesn't mean I have to do as you say. I'm not your little slave, so don't boss me around. I deserve the right to know what you meant by calling Tsukiko a nobody. It's the least you can do for me. If you don't, I'll take Roxas with me and I'll hide somewhere where you'll never find me. Then your precious Hikari will never wake up. Do I make myself clear?"_

_Diz thought she was bluffing, but when he saw her open up a portal, he looked at Taiyouko._

"_Perhaps you should tell her, since she is you nobody"_

_Taiyouko bit her lip and looked at the ground._

_Riku and Ankoku looked at her._

"_Is that true?" Ankoku asked._

_Taiyouko nodded slowly._

"_Yes" she said quietly._

"_She is" _

_She looked at her daughter's nobody._

"_She was created by me a long time ago. That's all I'm going to say"_

_Ankoku shook her head._

_That couldn't be right._

_Tsukiko had a heart, so she couldn't be one._

_Nobodies didn't have hearts._

"_If she's a nobody, then why does she have a heart?" she asked._

"_How can she feel?"_

_Diz scoffed._

"_It's not a real heart" he said._

"_It's a fake. An artificial heart that my witch of a daughter created with her magic"_

_Taiyouko gasped when he said that._

_He had the nerve to call his own daughter a witch?_

_Riku looked at her._

"_Taiyouko?" he asked._

_Diz looked at him._

"_She didn't tell you, did she?" he asked._

"_That creating hearts are her sorceress powers? She does have a way with deceiving people. I'm surprised you didn't catch on"_

_Taiyouko glared at him._

"_You monster" she said._

_She stormed over to Tsukiko's body and placed her hand over her head._

_Her hand glowed slightly before she pulled it away._

_Tsukiko's eyes fluttered open and she looked at Taiyouko._

"_Taiyouko?" she asked._

_Taiyouko smiled sadly._

"_Hey, Tsukiko" she said._

"_I take it you remember everything?"_

_Tsukiko was quiet for a moment before nodding._

"_Yeah" she said quietly._

"_After our world was destroyed…you sent me here to Twilight Town. I didn't know what happened back then because I lost my memories…but now I remember"_

_Diz scoffed._

"_You think by giving back her memories is going to prevent me from returning her to where she belongs?" he asked._

_Tsukiko looked at Diz and glared._

_She remembered he was the one who tried to take Roxas and Ankoku from her._

"_You" she hissed._

_She shot up to her feet and summoned her nobody weapon._

_Ankoku noticed it was the black and blue scythe that Tsukiko drew in her journal._

_Tsukiko went to attack Diz, but he pulled out a remote and pushed a button._

_The collar around Tsukiko's neck zapped her and made her dismiss her weapon._

_She fell to her knees and grabbed her throat._

_Taiyouko rushed to her._

"_Don't hurt her!" she cried._

_Diz glared at her._

"_You stay out of this!" he snapped._

_He pushed a button on the computer and activated the device that Roxas was on._

_The machine glowed brightly._

_Diz shoved Tsukiko onto the device and sent her and Roxas into the data version of Twilight Town._

_Diz looked at Ankoku._

_She looked like she was about to attack her, but he held up the remote to Tsukiko's collar._

"_Unless you don't want anything to happen to your little friend, you'll do as I say" he ordered._

_Ankoku growled at him and stormed over to the device._

_She glared at him as he typed at the computer._

"_I can already see your future and it is not going be a pretty one" she said._

_Diz just pushed a button and sent her to the data Twilight Town with the others._

/

So that was how they all ended up here.

Not only was Roxas being forced to return to his old self, but so was Tsukiko.

She couldn't believe that her closest friend was a nobody as well.

If Axel found out about this, he would flip.

Just thinking about the red head made Ankoku realize something.

If he found out Tsukiko wasn't in the real Twilight Town, then he would know something was up.

He was probably ordered by the Organization to track them down.

When she heard the clock tower ring its bell, she sighed.

"This is going to be a fun day" she said sarcastically.

She got out of bed and headed to Roxas's room to wake him up.

/

The twins were at the usual spot hanging out with Hayner and the gang.

Diz made a data version of them so Roxas could be occupied.

Ankoku rally didn't mind.

She always knew Roxas wanted to be friends with them.

She was glad Diz made it that way.

Hayner seemed to be ticked off about something.

"Man, doesn't that tick you off?" he asked.

Ankoku looked at him dully.

It seemed that Diz programmed Hayner to be annoying.

Pence nodded.

"Yeah, that's just wrong" he said.

"Seifer's gone too far this time" Olette added.

Roxas just nodded.

It seemed as if he was in a daze.

"_He must be affected by seeing Sora's memoires" _Ankoku thought.

Hayner stood up from his spot and looked at the group.

"I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town" he said.

"And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So if he wants to think we did it, I really can't blame him. See…that's not what really bugs me"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Then what is?" she asked.

Hayner glared at the floor.

"What REALLY bugs me is that he's going around telling everybody we're the thieves!" he said.

"Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club!. Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? Not me-EVER"

He made a fist.

"Now…what to do"

Olette looked like she was about to say something, but then looked at Roxas.

He still looked out into space, oblivious to what was around him.

Ankoku rolled her eyes and smacked him right upside the head.

That got him talking.

"Uh, well… we could find the real thieves" he said.

"That would set the record straight"

Pence smiled.

"Hey, that sounds fun" he said.

"What about Seifer?" Olette asked.

Ankoku stood up from her seat.

"First, we gotta clear our names" she said.

"Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs"

"Oh, no!" Pence cried.

He was holding up his camera and looked at it.

He seemed upset by something.

"They're gone!" he said.

The group went near him.

"Our -are gone!"

Everyone gasped.

Not only was the item that pence was talking about, but so was the word.

"All our-, gone?" Hayner asked.

"You can't say-" Olette asked.

"Why not?"

Pence looked at them.

"But you do understand what I'm saying, right?" he asked.

"Our -are gone!"

Everyone nodded.

Ankoku narrowed her eyes.

Was this part of Diz's program?

"_No" _she thought.

"_He wouldn't bother doing something like this….someone else is doing this"_

Roxas thought for a moment.

"Stolen…" he said.

"And not just the -. The word-! They stole it too!"

Hayner crossed his arms.

"What kind of thief is that?" he asked.

"Seifer could never have pulled that off"

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah" he said.

Hayner pumped his fist.

"All right, time for some recon!" he said.

They all headed out towards the market place to see if they could find any clues.

/

When Ankoku made sure Roxas and everyone else were occupied with their search, she began thinking about what was going on.

There was no way Diz would do something like this, so what was going on?

A vision of Nobodies suddenly flashed into her head.

She held her forehead slightly.

"Even after using my powers for so long, I still can't handle those random ones" she said.

She was thankful that she was able to still use her powers here.

She figured that was one of the main reasons why Diz whipped Roxas's memories clean.

Hayner shouted at everyone to head towards the accessory shop.

"Over here!"

Everyone gathered around him.

The store merchant seemed to be ticked off about something.

"Yo, Roxas, Ankoku" he said.

"I never thought you'd both do such a rotten thing…"

Roxas glared at him.

"We didn't steal anything!" he said.

The merchant shrugged.

"I'd like to believe you, but…who else would steal stuff?" he asked.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"What stuff?" she asked.

She didn't find it amusing that they thought she was the thief too.

"As if you didn't know" the merchant said.

"I'm not going to tell you"

Hayner sighed.

"Let's go ask around" he said.

They went to every shop to ask them about what was going on, and they would give them the same answer of saying Roxas and Ankoku were the thieves.

"Let's go see what's up at the sandlot" Olette said.

"Seifer must know what's going on"

They headed towards the sandlot to see if they could get an actual answer.

/

Seifer was there with his little gang that consisted Fuu, Rai and Vivi.

When they saw the gang coming, they glared.

"Thieves" Fuu said.

Rai glared at them.

"That was low, y'know!" he said.

Ankoku gave them a dull look.

"_Are these guys for real?" _she thought.

One hardly spoke while the other sounded like an idiot talking.

"_Either Diz screwed with creating them or they must really be this pathetic in real life"_

Hayner glared at them.

"Oh, yeah?" he asked.

Seifer smirked darkly.

"Nice comeback there, Blondie" he said.

Hayner growled.

"What'd you say?" he asked.

Seifer just crossed his arms and looked at the twins.

"You can give us back the -now" he said.

Rai nodded.

"Yeah! You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?"

Seifer pointed towards them.

"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers" he said.

"So what did you do? Burn it?"

He shrugged.

"Ha, not that we needed some -to prove that you're losers"

"Replay!" Fuu declared.

Seifer smirked.

"Now you're talking" he said.

He got into a fighting stance.

"I guess if you get on your knees and beg, MAYBE I'll let it slide" he said.

Ankoku scoffed.

"As if" she said.

She saw Roxas walk up to Seifer and stood in front of him before quickly bowing.

"Roxas!" she cried.

Roxas looked at the floor and saw a struggle bat lying on the ground.

He quickly picked it up and pointed it at Seifer.

Seifer took the challenge and pulled out his own Struggle bat.

The two of them faced off in the middle while everyone watched.

"Roxas, focus!" Hayner cried.

Roxas nodded and started his fight with Seifer.

Ankoku noticed that, even though he had his memory swiped, he still knew how to fight.

He got the upper hand and managed to knock Seifer down.

When he fell on one knee, Fuu and Rai stood in front of him.

"Seifer's not feelin so hot, y'know" Rai said.

"Tournament decides" Fuu said.

Pence pulled out his camera and took a picture of Roxas beating Seifer.

When he did, a Dusk showed up and snatched his camera.

Ankoku paled.

What were the nobodies doing here?

Pence watched at the Dusk ran slithered off with his camera.

"What was that?" Hayner asked.

"The thief?" Olette suggested.

Roxas suddenly ran after it.

"Roxas, wait!" Ankoku cried.

She chased after him as he ran through the town.

She didn't know what this Dusk was doing here, but that had to mean bad news.

They chased it through the woods and stopped at the mansion.

The Dusk just moved like a snake as it stood in front of them.

As Ankoku looked at it, she got the vision of a guy wearing an Organization cloak.

She paled.

The Organization was after them.

She went to summon her keyblade, but Roxas went after the Dusk and attacked it with his Struggle bat.

Ankoku grimaced.

The bat wasn't going to do any damage.

"_Looks like I have to take care of everything" _she thought.

She secretly summoned her keyblade and held it out.

Just as she was about to attack it, the strangest thing happened.

One minute, Roxas was using a struggle bat and then the next he was using a keyblade.

Roxas looked at his weapon when the Dusk was gone.

"What is this thing?" he asked.

He noticed that Ankoku had hers out too.

"Hey, sis, you have one too" he said.

Ankoku looked at her keyblade and nodded.

She decided to play dumb and didn't know what it was.

"Yeah…weird, isn't it?" she asked.

Their keyblades were dismissed.

Ankoku looked at the ground to see photos everywhere.

She picked them up and noticed they were picture of herself and Roxas.

"Let's bring these back to the gang" she said.

Roxas nodded and helped her pick up the photos before heading back to the mansion.

/

Hayner and the others looked through the pictures that the twins gathered.

They figured out the reason why everyone accused the twins for being the thieves was because they were in every picture.

Pence held up the photo of all of them standing in front of the mansion.

Olette smiled.

"It's a really nice photo" she said.

She gasped when she realized what she said.

"Hey! You just said 'photo'!" Pence said.

Hayner looked at Roxas.

"So tell us about the thief" he said.

Roxas shrugged.

"Not much to say" he said.

"The pictures were just lying there"

"Then how to we prove we weren't the ones who took them?" Hayner asked.

Ankoku shrugged.

"Who know?" she asked.

"At least we got them back. That's all that matters"

She wasn't going to explain that the thief was a dusk.

Just then, the evening bell chimed.

"Looks like it's getting late" Roxas said.

"I bet Tsukiko is wondering where we are"

Hayner sighed wistfully.

"You guys are so lucky to have such a hot guardian" he said.

Roxas glared at him.

"Hey! That's our caretaker you're talking about!" he cried.

Hayner just laughed when Roxas tried to beat him.

Ankoku chuckled dryly.

So Diz made it so that Tsukiko would be their guardian here.

How ironic.

Now that she thought about it, she was technically her mother.

If Hikari and Taiyouko were mother and daughter, then surely their nobodies were the same.

She tugged the back of Roxas's jacked and pulled him out of the hangout.

"Come on" she said.

"Let's not keep Tsukiko waiting"

They headed back towards their little apartment while Diz took care of everything in the real world.

/

Diz scowled as the computer read.

_Restoration at 12%_

"Organization miscreants…they've found us" he said.

Taiyouko stood next to him and gave him a dull glare.

She was still mad that he called her a witch.

Riku placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before looking at Diz.

"But…why would the nobodies steal photographs?" he asked.

Diz just shook his head.

"Both are nothing but data to them" he said.

"The fools could never tell the difference"

He sighed.

"We are running out of time" he said.

"Namine must make haste"

Taiyouko looked at the monitor that held Tsukiko's image.

"I'm so sorry" she said quietly.

/

Back in the data Twilight Town, Ankoku sat on Tsukiko's bed.

Roxas went to bed a while ago, so now it was just the two girls.

Ankoku's pajamas consisted black basketball shorts and a blue t-shirt while Tsukiko wore a purple spaghetti strap nightgown.

The older nobody smiled weakly at her friend.

"Roxas told me you found the thief that was running around town" she said.

"That had to be fun"

Ankoku just scoffed.

"There's nothing fun about all of this" she said.

Tsukiko nodded.

"I know"

She touched the collar that was still on her neck.

Even when she was in this data world, Diz had control over her.

Ankoku looked at her sadly.

It was all her fault that this happened to her.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me"

Tsukiko just shook her head.

"Don't say that" she said.

"I would have found a way to get you both back. Besides, I got my memories back, so that's a plus"

She laughed weakly.

"Who would have thought that I was a nobody?" she asked.

"I always knew that I was different from everyone, but not that different"

She smiled at Ankoku.

"I guess I'll be returning to where I belong too" she said.

Ankoku bit her lip.

She didn't want her friend to vanish.

She was fine with returning to Hikari because that was where she belonged, but Tsukiko didn't deserve this.

"Maybe Taiyouko won't do it" she said.

"She seemed like she was against the idea"

Tsukiko looked at the bed.

"She was, but Diz wasn't" she said.

"He'll find a way to make it happen"

Ankoku didn't know what to say to that.

Tsukiko just gripped her shoulder.

"It's getting late" she said.

"You should go to bed. You'll probably have a busy day tomorrow"

Ankoku laughed dryly.

"Yeah…a busy day living a lie" she said.

She got off of Tsukiko's bed and headed for her room.

That night, she witnessed Hikari's memories of the keyblade.

/

_Day 2_

The twins walked through the alley way towards the usual spot.

Ankoku noticed that Roxas remembered about the keyblade from his dreams last night.

He picked up a stick and started swinging it around like he did with his keyblade.

He got so caught up in his swing that he let go of the stick and accidentally hit someone.

"Oh, sorry" he said.

Ankoku paled when saw the Organization cloak.

She thought that they found them, but when she noticed it was Riku, she relaxed.

Roxas looked a little uneasy.

Even though he apologized, Riku didn't say anything to him.

He just shrugged and walked away.

Ankoku made sure he was out of ear shot before she spoke to him.

"Diz found out about the Dusk?" she asked.

Riku nodded.

"The Organization is closing in" he said.

"Times running out"

Ankoku sighed.

This wasn't going well.

She looked at Riku.

"He remembered the keyblade" she said.

"At least he's making progress"

Riku nodded.

"But not enough for Diz's standards" he said.

Ankoku ran a hand through her messy black hair.

"Just see how today goes. He might remember some more"

She headed off towards the usual spot.

"I'll fill you in if he remembers anything else" she called over her shoulder.

Riku nodded before heading back to the real Twilight Town.

He couldn't stay away from Taiyouko for very long or else she might kill Diz.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she did already" he muttered.

/

Hayner and the gang were eating sea salt ice cream when they came.

Hayner offered one to Roxas while Olette handed one to Ankoku.

"Thanks"

When Ankoku took a bite from hers, she mentally frowned.

She used to eat this all the time with Roxas and Axel in the Organization.

They would eat it after every mission.

She shook her head.

She shouldn't be thinking about the past.

That was history and she needed to focus on the future and waking Hikari up.

That was her purpose now.

Pence looked up from his ice cream.

"Do you guys s think we'll always be together like this?" he asked.

"I sure hope so" Olette said.

"Well, I doubt we can be together forever" Hayner said.

"But isn't that what growing up's about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think of each other"

Ankoku froze midway of taking a bite of her ice cream.

Axel said the same exact thing to her and Roxas a long time ago.

She sighed.

This was like déjà vu for her.

Hayner sighed.

"Man, today is turning out to be a drag" he said.

"Maybe because of the memory thief" Olette pointed out.

Hayner suddenly stood up.

"Nope. You know what it is?" he asked.

"We don't want summer vacation to be over. That's all!"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"You just don't want to go back to school" she said.

Hayner waved her off.

"So, how about this? We all go to the beach!" He said.

"And why do we go to the beach? Because we haven't gone once since summer vacation! Blue seas! Blue skies! Let's just get on the train and GO!"

He turned to the group, thinking they would agree with him, but he was disappointed to see they weren't as thrilled as he was.

"Aw, c'mon!" he said.

Roxas stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Maybe you forgot, but we're broke" he said.

Hayner grinned.

"Maybe you forgot, I'm smart!"

He ran out of the hangout and headed towards the market place.

The others followed him closely.

/

Hayner came up with the idea of them doing jobs around the market area.

It would have been alright if he was willing to participate.

Ankoku figured that since he thought of the idea then he thought he could skip out on doing the work.

They all passed a Struggle Poster and stopped.

"Just two days to go" Hayner said.

He looked at Roxas.

"You and I have to make it to the finals!" he said.

"That way, no matter who wins, the five of us split the prize!"

Roxas smiled.

"Ok, you're on" he said.

Ankoku smirked at her twin.

"I know you can do it" she said.

Pence nodded.

"You two are gonna clean up!" he said.

"Go get 'em!" Olette cheered.

Roxas and Hayner pumped fists.

"It's a promise" Hayner said.

With that promise made, they went about doing the jobs that Hayner assigned them to.

Pence was given clean up duty.

Olette had to deliver things.

Ankoku had to deliver mail.

And Roxas had to put Struggle posters all over the area.

They all gathered by the clock tower a half hour later.

"Nice work, everyone" Olette said.

"Added to what we started with, we now have…"

She held up her bulging wallet.

"Tada! 5000 munny!"

"Sweet!" Hayner cried.

Olette handed the wallet to Roxas.

"Let's go get the tickets" Hayner said.

They all started headed towards the station when all of a sudden, they head someone falling.

Ankoku turned around to see that Roxas tripped.

"Roxas!"

She went to go help him, but Riku suddenly appeared and said something to him.

Roxas looked confused by what he said but shrugged it off.

"Roxas! Three minutes!" Hayner cried.

"Ok!" Roxas called.

He went to looked back at Riku, but saw that he was gone.

Ankoku bit her lip.

She knew what he asked her brother.

"_Can you feel Sora?"_

She quietly went into the station to wait for her brother.

When he finally joined up with them, Hayner was already ordering the tickets.

"Roxas, the money" Pence said.

Roxas went to grab the wallet, but he found out that it was gone.

"No!" he cried.

He went to run out of the station, but Hayner stopped him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Roxas looked at him.

"He took it!" he said.

"Remember when I fell? I had the money before that. I bet that guy took it!"

Hayner and the gang looked at each other.

"What guy?" Hayner asked.

"There was no guy"

Roxas looked confused.

"But…"

He looked at Ankoku.

"Sis, you saw him, right?"

Ankoku bit the inside of her cheeks.

She saw Riku alright, and she knew he was the one who took the money.

But she couldn't let on that she knew what was really going on.

She had to do this so Roxas could remember Sora better.

She shook her head.

"I didn't see anyone" she said.

Just then, the train going for the beach went off.

Roxas hung his head in defeat.

"There wasn't anyone…there?"

/

Since they couldn't go to the beach, the group decided to eat ice cream up at the clock tower.

Roxas hardly ate his and let it melt.

Ankoku looked at him.

"It's melting" she said.

Roxas looked at the group.

"Sorry" he said.

Pence looked at him.

"Cheer up already" he said.

"That was definitely weird though" Olette said.

Ankoku nodded.

"Strange" she said.

They continued to eat their ice cream before calling it a day.

/

Back with Diz, Riku stood in the back ground with the wallet in his hand.

He felt bad that he had to take it, but it needed to be done.

The twins couldn't be attached to that world.

He looked at Diz.

"Is it really that hard to make a beach?" he asked.

Diz sighed.

"We'd be giving the enemy another entry point" he said.

Riku held up the wallet.

"And this?" he asked.

Diz shrugged.

"We could always buy some sea salt ice cream" he said.

He went back to the computer.

"Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world" he said.

"You can delete that"

/

_Day 3_

The next morning, Ankoku woke up to a vision of Namine.

She had met the witch back when she agreed to return to Hikari.

She didn't know why she saw her, but she had a feeling it was important.

She got up for the day to see what Diz had prepared for them.

/

She was heading towards the usual spot when she saw Roxas coming out from there.

"What's up, Roxas?" she asked.

Roxas smiled.

"We're going to the beach today" he said.

"Hayner has it all covered"

Ankoku smiled.

"That's good" she said.

They were heading towards the train station when they ran into Pence and Olette.

"Morning" Olette said.

They started walking towards them when they suddenly froze.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"What the?"

Roxas went up to them but stopped when Namine stood in front of him.

The witch smiled kindly at him.

"Hello, Roxas" she said.

Ankoku's eyes bugged out.

What was Namine doing in the program?

Roxas was about to say something, but Namine stopped him.

"I wanted to meet you at least once" she said.

Roxas blushed a little.

"Me?" he asked.

Namine nodded.

"Yes, you" she said.

She started walking towards the sandlot.

When she disappeared, Pence and Olette started walking again.

"Olette dragged me along to go shopping" Pence said.

Roxas just ignored them and looked where Namine went.

"Did she head towards the woods?" he thought out loud.

He ran in that direction with Ankoku hot on his heels.

This was not going to be good.

/

"Roxas! Don't go in there!"

Ankoku caught up with him and the entrance of the woods and gasped.

A group of Dusks appeared out of nowhere and chased them towards the sandlot.

When they got there, they were greeted by Seifer and his gang.

"Hey, chicken wuss" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"We don't have time for this" she said.

But it was too late.

The Dusks surrounded them.

Roxas pulled out his Struggle bat and pointed it at the Dusks.

Ankoku didn't know what to use since she couldn't summon her keyblade.

She just had to stay back and let her brother fail at destroying the enemy.

When it appeared to be hopeless, Namine showed up.

"Use the keyblade!" she cried to them.

Roxas looked confused.

Before he or Ankoku could say anything, they were suddenly thrown into some kind of place where there was a stained glass floor.

The image that was created in it was a picture of Sora at one end while Hikari was at the other.

The islands made up the background while their closest comrades were in the middle.

Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Riku and Taiyouko's images all glowed brightly.

Ankoku looked around.

"What's going on?" she asked.

A stained glass pathway lit up and lead them to an upper floor.

Roxas tugged on his sister's arm.

"Come on, let's check it out" he said.

Ankoku sighed.

"Alright, fine" she said.

She didn't think it would be so bad.

Wrong.

When they got to the top, a giant nobody was waiting for them.

Ankoku summoned her keyblade, not caring that she wasn't supposed to.

It didn't seem to bother Roxas since he summoned his as well.

'_I guess Diz made it so he could summon it in situations like this" _she thought.

They attacked the nobody with ease.

They let their bodies control their movements and let their instincts drive them.

When the nobody was destroyed they were both engulfed in darkness.

Ankoku held onto Roxas's hand, not knowing what was going to happen next.

When she suddenly saw a light, she opened her eyes.

She found herself in a white room with Namine sitting up on a seat.

Ankoku looked at her.

"_What are you doing?" _she mouthed.

Namine shushed her, but made it seem like she was shushing Roxas, who was about to speak.

"My name is Namine" she said.

She looked at Roxas.

"Roxas…do you remember your true name?"

Riku suddenly appeared and pulled her up.

"Say no more, Namine" he said.

Namine looked at him sadly.

"But if no one tells him, Roxas will…"

"It's best that he doesn't know" Riku said.

Roxas glared at him.

"Hey! You're that pit pocket!" he said.

Riku gave him a dull look from his hood and opened a portal.

Roxas back away from it, but Riku suddenly appeared behind him and shoved him through.

Ankoku gave him a dull glare.

"Was that necessary?" she asked.

Riku just looked at her.

Ankoku held her hands up in defeat.

"I'm going, I'm going" she said.

She walked through the portal and headed back to Twilight Town.

/

When she came back, she saw Roxas headed out from the usual spot looking sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Roxas looked at his twin.

"Nothing, just a misunderstanding with Hayner" he said.

Ankoku just gripped his shoulder.

"Let's head home" she said.

"You have a big day tomorrow"

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah" he said.

They headed back home, where Tsukiko was waiting for them.

/

_Restoration at 48%_

Diz scowled at the monitor.

Riku and Taiyouko slowly came up to him.

"Was that Namine made up of data?"Riku asked.

Diz shook his head.

"No" he said.

"Namine hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now…she's totally beyond my control!"

He slammed his fist on one of the monitors.

"Calm down" Taiyouko said.

"At least she boost the restoration up by 36%. It's better that what you were doing"

Diz glared at her.

"It doesn't matter" he said.

"As long as she accomplishes her goal…we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas and Ankoku"

The three of them just watched the monitors for the time being.

/

_Day 4_

It was the big struggle match in Twilight Town.

Everyone gathered to see their favorite players compete.

Tsukiko looked at Roxas and smiled.

"You'll just win, I know it" she said.

Roxas gave her a weak grin.

"Thanks"

Ankoku knew he was mulling over what happened yesterday.

Hayner really didn't talk to him after they fought that nobody.

He thought they were hanging with Seifer for the day instead of them.

She ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry about things like this" she said.

"Just go out and have fun"

Roxas nodded.

"Right"

"We'll be cheering for you" Tsukiko said.

They sat on the bleachers and watched as Roxas was about to fight Hayner.

Seifer walked past them and smirked when he saw Tsukiko.

"Hey, Tsukiko. When are you going to go out with me?" he asked.

Ankoku growled.

Did Diz programmed this?

Tsukiko glared at him.

"How about never?" she replied.

"I already have a man, and he's a hundred times better than you'll ever be"

Seifer just snorted.

"If he's so awesome, then where is he?" he asked.

When Tsukiko didn't say anything, he just smirked.

"Once I win this tournament, I win a date with you" he said.

Ankoku growled.

"Beat it, you creep!" she said.

Seifer just laughed as he walked away.

Ankoku looked at Tsukiko.

"Don't pay attention to him" she said.

Tsukiko just looked at the ground.

Her mind traveled to Axel.

Ankoku bit her lip.

This was another reason why she thought this was her fault.

Since Tsukiko was here, she would never see Axel again.

She may have been a nobody, but she was madly in love with the red head.

If she returned to Taiyouko, it would crush her.

"_If only she had a miracle" _she thought.

When Roxas's match started, she started cheering for her brother.

She had a feeling that Diz would program him to win, but she wanted to show that she supported her brother.

She wanted to make these last few days memorable.

When Roxas won, she jumped up and down.

"Go Roxas!" she cried.

Tsukiko clapped and smiled sadly.

The next match was Seifer vs. Vivi.

Seifer blew a kiss at Tsukiko while Ankoku flipped him off.

When the match started, everyone was surprised to see Vivi have the upper hand.

"How would have thought that such a little guy could have so much in him" Tsukiko said.

When Vivi won, Ankoku laughed as Seifer.

"Looks like you won't be getting that date" she said.

Seifer just glared at him and walked away.

Since Roxas and Vivi were the winners of their own match, that meant they had to face each other.

Vivi seemed to have the upper hand for a while, but Roxas managed to fight his way back.

When he went to land the finishing blow, everything around his stopped.

Ankoku and Tsukiko stood up and looked around.

"What's going on?" Tsukiko asked.

"Is this part of Diz's program?" Ankoku asked to herself.

Just then, Vivi started acting differently.

His body glowed before transforming into a Dusk.

Ankoku and Tsukiko summoned their weapons and jumped on the stage.

Roxas was confused for a second, but summoned his keyblade.

They attacked the dusks that littered the area.

Ankoku noticed that although Tsukiko just remembered being a nobody, she knew how to use her scythe.

When they got rid of the nobodies, they heard someone applauding them.

Roxas and Ankoku turned around to see a guy wearing a Organization cloak clapping .

Ankoku knew right away that this wasn't Riku.

"Roxas, Ankoku. Alright, fight, fight, fight"

Ankoku gasped.

She knew that voice.

Roxas on the other hand didn't.

The man looked disappointed.

"You really don't remember?. But is seems like your sister does" he said.

He pulled his hood back to reveal a head of red spiky hair.

"It's me. You know, Axel"

Tsukiko gasped when she saw her boyfriend.

"Axel!"

The red head looked surprised.

"Tsukiko?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?"

Tsukiko bit her lip and touched the collar around her neck.

Axel looked around the area.

"This town was his creation, huh?" he asked.

"Which means we don't have time for a Q & A"

He looked at the twins.

"You're both coming with me, conscious or not"

He summoned his Chakrams.

Ankoku glared at him and held her keyblade out.

"Go ahead and try!" she said.

Just then, everything started to move slightly.

"Uh oh" Axel said.

Roxas got into a fighting stance.

"All right, you asked for it!" he said.

Tsukiko went to stop them, but was zapped by her collar.

Ankoku looked at her.

"Stay put if you don't want to get hurt" she said.

"I won't hurt him-much"

Tsukiko nodded slowly and stepped back.

Ankoku and Roxas charged at Axel.

The red head just smirked and blocked them with his Chakrams.

"You two are so predictable" he said.

"So are you" Ankoku said.

She kicked him in the chest and jumped out of the way.

They fought for a bit until Diz suddenly appeared.

Axel glared at him.

"So it was you" he said.

He set his Chakrams on fire and threw them at Diz.

They bounced off an invisible shield he put around himself.

Tsukiko couldn't take it anymore and ran towards Axel.

"Axel!" she cried.

Diz scowled.

"You troublesome nobody"

He pulled out the remote and zapped her.

Tsukiko fell to the ground and gripped her neck.

Axel panicked.

"Let her go!" he said.

He summoned back his Chakrams and positioned himself to throw them.

Diz just scoffed and went over to Tsukiko.

He picked her up by the back of her collar.

"I guess leaving you here is too troublesome" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"She didn't do anything" she said.

Diz glared at her.

"Keep your mouth shut" he said.

"You need to play your part, or else Roxas will start to remember"

He looked at Roxas, who was quiet the whole time.

"Roxas, this man speak nonsense!" he said.

Axel glared at him before looking at his friend.

"Roxas, don't let him deceive you!"

They continued to call out to him until he couldn't take it anymore.

Ankoku looked at Axel and Diz.

"Just go" she said.

"You're just going to make it worse"

Diz nodded and started dragging Tsukiko back to the portal he created.

Axel growled and went to charge at him, but Ankoku stopped him.

"If you don't want her to get hurt, then just leave" she said.

Axel glared at her.

"So you really have betrayed us" he said.

Ankoku glared back.

"You're one to talk" she said.

"Now leave"

Axel just scowled and opened a portal.

He looked at his unconscious girlfriend being dragged away.

"If he does anything to harm her, he's toast" he said.

Ankoku nodded.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen" she said.

The red head nodded and walked through the portal.

"This isn't over" he said.

Ankoku sighed and went back to her brother.

Diz must have done something since everyone was back to normal.

She watched her brother fight Setzer and win the champion belt.

/

After the match, the group sat up on the clock tower.

Roxas admired the trophy he won.

"You did awesome, Roxas" Ankoku said.

He smiled.

"Thanks" he said.

He pulled off the crystals that adored the trophy and handed one of them to his friends.

Hayner got the red one.

Olette got the yellow.

Pence got the green.

Ankoku got the white.

And Roxas got the blue.

Ankoku made a face.

"Hey, why do you get the blue one?" she asked.

"That's my favorite color"

Roxas just grinned at her.

"I won the trophy, I get to pick which crystal I want" he said.

Ankoku just stuck her tongue out.

"I got a present for us" Olette said.

She held up sea salt ice cream.

Roxas stood up to grab his, but he lost his footing and slipped off the edge.

Ankoku panicked and went to grab him, but she got dragged instead.

As fell to her probable doom, she saw a vision of a certain girl with maroon hair.

/

On the quiet streets of Destiny Islands, Kairi was walking home from school.

"Kairi! Wait up!"

Kairi turned around to see Selphine run up to her.

The brunette smiled as they walked.

"Hey, do you feel like going out to the island?" she asked.

"Tidus and Wakka are all wrapped up in their ballgame and won't go with me"

Kairi gave her an apologetic grin.

"Not today, sorry" she said.

Selphine looked at her.

"Aw, why not?" she asked.

Kairi looked out at the ocean.

"Do you remember those boys and girl who used to hang out with us?" she asked.

Selphine tilted her head.

"Riku?" she asked.

Kairi nodded.

"Yeah" she said.

"I wonder what happened to him?" Selphine asked.

"I sure miss him"

Kairi smiled softly.

"He's far away" she said.

"But I know we'll see him again"

Selphine nodded.

"Sure. Of course we will" she said.

Kairi looked at the ground.

"And the other two?" she asked.

Selphine tilted her head.

"What other two?" she asked.

"The ones who were with Riku and me all the time-we played together on that island" Kairi said.

She looked at the island that they all played on.

"Their voices used to be there…but now they're gone" she said.

"I can't think of their faces, or their names. I feel awful about it. So I told myself-I'm never going back to the island until I remember everything about them"

Selphine looked at her.

"Are you sure you didn't make them up?" she asked.

Kairi nodded.

"_Namine?"_

Kairi grabbed her head.

As Roxas and Ankoku were falling, they heard a voice.

"_Namine…what's happening to me?" _Roxas thought.

Ankoku's head grew fuzzy, but it cleared up when she heard a voice.

She never heard it before, but it sounded familiar.

"_Who are you? And that's not my name. I'm Kairi"_

Ankoku gasped.

That was Hikari's best friend.

"_Kairi…" _Roxas thought.

"_I know you. You're that girl he really likes"_

"_And you're her best friend" _Ankoku added.

Kairi gasped.

"_Who?" _she asked.

When they didn't say anything, she spoke again.

"_Please, some names!"_

"_I'm Roxas" _Roxas said.

"_And I'm Ankoku" _Ankoku added.

Kairi sighed.

"_Okay, Roxas, Ankoku. But can you tell me THEIR names?"_

Just then, two new voices were heard.

"_You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi" _a boy said.

"_Yeah. How could you forget about your best friend in the whole world?" _a girl added.

Kairi gasped.

The two voices chuckled.

"_O-kay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S'" _the boy said.

"_And mine starts with an 'H'" _the girl said.

After they said that, everything went black for Roxas and Ankoku.

/

Back on the islands, Kairi's eyes fluttered open.

She sat up from passing out on the ground and looked around.

Selphine knelt next to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Kairi nodded.

They both stood up and looked at the Island.

Kairi smiled at Selphine and stared running towards the beach.

When she got there, she pulled out a bottle with a letter stuck inside it.

Selphine caught up with her.

"Kairi?" she asked.

Kairi knelt down and dropped the bottle in the water.

They both watched as it sailed away.

"What's that?" Selphine asked.

"A letter…I wrote it yesterday, to the boy and girl I can't remember" Kairi said.

"I said that no matter where they are…I'll find them. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it"

Selphine watched as the bottle got smaller and smaller.

"Wow…I hope they get it" she said.

Kairi smiled.

"They will" she said.

She looked at the sand.

"One starts with an 'S' while the other starts with an 'H'" she muttered.

"Right, Sora…Hikari?"

/

_Restoration at 79%_

Diz looked at the computers.

"Their progress is astounding" he said.

Riku held the crystals that Roxas and Ankoku had from the trophy.

"So what happened?" he asked.

He looked at Tsukiko who was still out.

He scowled.

Taiyouko was going to have a field day when she saw this.

"Namine's encounter with Roxas and Ankoku put their hearts in contact with Kairi's" Diz said.

"And that, in turn, affected Sora and Hikari"

Riku looked at the screen.

"Namine…she's a wonder" he said.

Diz typed something in.

"She wasn't born like other nobodies" he said.

"Then again, neither was Ankoku"

Riku looked away.

He knew very well that she was different.

"If you need me, I'll be with Taiyouko" he said.

He started to walk away, but Diz stopped.

"I wouldn't get too attached to her if I were you" he said.

"She's a sorceress, and they are very dangerous people. Interacting with her will be the last thing that you'll ever do"

Riku glared at him.

How could he say that.

"Don't forget that she's also your daughter" he said.

"Hikari is no different"

He stormed out of the room before he could do anything else.

Diz sighed and looked at the monitor that held Hikari's image.

"I'm well aware of that" he said.

/

_Day 5_

Ankoku woke up to find herself in her bed.

"Diz must have done this" she said.

She sat up and rubbed her head.

That little encounter with Kairi really affected her.

She was able to finally hear Hikari's voice.

"I think that will be the only time that I'll hear it" she said.

She looked around her room for a moment before remembering that Diz took Tsukiko out of the program.

Thoughts of him sending her back to Taiyouko flashed through her head.

She jumped up and ran out of her room.

She couldn't let Diz do that.

She knocked on Roxas's door.

Her twin cracked the door open and gave her a tired stare.

"What is it, Sis?" he asked.

"I'm going to be busy today" Ankoku said.

"So you go ahead and hang out with the gang today"

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to do?"

Ankoku started walking away.

She didn't have much time.

"Stuff" she said.

/

When she felt that she was in a deserted place, Ankoku opened up a portal.

"It's a good thing Diz didn't swipe my memory" she said.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to do this"

She went through the portal and hoped she would give Diz a scare.

/

Taiyouko was with Namine in her room.

She watched as the witch worked on her latest drawing.

The sorceress smiled softly.

"You're really amazing when it comes to drawing, Namine" she said.

The witch smiled kindly.

"Thank you" she said.

She turned to a certain page in her notebook and revealed the picture that Hikari made for her.

She smiled sadly.

"It's going to be hard when she doesn't remember me" she said.

"I wanted to be friends with her"

Taiyouko placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You want to know something about her powers?" she asked.

"Even if she forgets something, her powers will always remember for her. All she has to do is see you again and she'll remember the promise she made with you"

She smiled weakly.

"That's one of the flaws in her powers. She can remember everything…even things that were best left forgotten"

Namine looked at her confused.

What did she mean by that?

Just then, a portal opened up and Ankoku appeared

Taiyouko looked surprised, as did Namine.

"What are you doing here?" Taiyouko asked.

Ankoku looked at her.

"I wanted to make sure Diz didn't do anything to Tsukiko" she said.

Taiyouko nodded.

Now she understood.

She was upset herself when she saw him dragging her nobody like a corpse.

Riku had to hold her back just so she wouldn't kill him.

"Don't worry, she's fine" she said.

Diz was going to bring her back into the program tomorrow. After all…it'll be the last day"

Ankoku nodded grimly.

Tomorrow she would have to return to Hikari while Roxas returned to Sora.

Taiyouko sighed sadly.

"Frankly, I don't want Tsukiko to return back" she said.

"That's the reason I made her a heart. I wanted her to be free"

She gave her daughter's nobody a sad smile.

"I would do the same for you…but my powers aren't what they used to be"

Ankoku shook her head.

"It's fine" she said.

"It's better this way"

Riku came into the room.

"Taiyouko, Diz wanted to ask…"

He stopped when he saw Ankoku.

"What are you doing here?"

Ankoku crossed her arms.

She still found it odd that she was talking to him.

After his little fight with Roxas, his voice and appearance changed drastically.

He kept hid hood up the whole time because of it.

"I'm just making sure you didn't do anything to my friend" she said.

Riku scowled.

"Just go back to the data world before Diz finds you here" he said.

Ankoku shrugged.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today" she said.

She went through the portal that she came in and headed back to the data world before anyone found out.

Riku turned to Taiyouko.

"Diz wants us" he said.

The sorceress nodded and followed him out the room.

The mysterious man was waiting for them in one of the rooms.

He looked up when he saw his two colleges enter the room.

He noticed that Taiyouko wore a scowl on her face.

"_She still hates me" _he thought.

"Are the holes in your memory starting to fill up?" he asked.

They both nodded.

"Yes…the haze is clearing" Riku said.

He sat in a chair while Taiyouko stood.

"The same thing is happening to everyone who had ties to Sora and Hikari" Diz said.

"Very soon, to them, they'll be like good friends who have been gone for a year"

Riku looked at him.

Now that their job was almost complete, he wanted to know why Diz was willing to help them for a year.

"I've waited, and now I want to know" he said.

"What is it you want?"

Diz gave them a serious stare.

"Revenge" he said.

Riku's hand curled around the arm of the seat.

"Revenge?" he asked.

Diz nodded.

"Now, for the finishing touches" he said.

"First, we must dispose of Namine. She did a splendid job with Sora and Hikari, but it's high time she disappeared. Roxas and Ankoku aren't the only ones who weren't suppose to exist"

Riku's blood was boiling.

So that was why he helped them?

He wanted to use Sora and Hikari to fulfill his plans.

Taiyouko was fuming.

"You monsters!"

She stormed up to him and slapped him hard across the face.

Riku shot up and held Taiyouko back as she tried to hit Diz again.

She had angry tears in her eyes.

"I should have known you would do something like this!" She cried.

"I found it strange that you would want to help your granddaughter, after not being in her life for so long. I thought you wanted to help her because she was your family and because you loved her"

Diz gave her a dull look.

"Who could ever love a sorceress?" he asked.

Riku paled.

He knew how sensitive Taiyouko was about that.

Diz looked like he regretted saying that because he noticed Taiyouko's face went blank.

"So it finally comes out" she said.

Diz stood up.

"Taiyouko, listen" he said.

She shook her head.

"You know…if there was one person that I wish perished with our world…it would have to be you"

She had tears running down her face.

"Why did I have to have you for my parent?"

She stormed out of the room and started crying.

Riku looked at Diz.

"This is where I draw the line" he said.

He started walking away before looking back at him.

"Oh, and by the way. I fell in love with a sorceress. Are you disgusted with me?"

He walked away to find Taiyouko.

Diz sighed as he sat back in his seat.

"What have I done?" he asked.

/

Riku found Taiyouko crying in the hallway.

He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Taiyouko" he said.

The sorceress wiped her eyes.

"He's got a lot of nerve to say that to me" she said.

"He thinks that just because he's my dad, he knows everything about me. Well he doesn't! He never has"

Riku looked at her sadly.

"I wish I could say that I know you better than him" he said.

"But frankly…I hardly know anything about you"

Taiyouko looked at him and gave him a weak smile.

"I figured you had a lot of questions you wanted to ask me" she said.

"But being the gentleman that you are…you never asked"

She started walking towards her room.

She ushered Riku to follow her.

"I think it's time that I told you about everything" she said.

"About myself…and about Hikari's dark past"

/

_Day 6_

The next morning, Ankoku's body felt really heavy.

All of Hikari's memories had filled her up to the point that she felt like bursting.

Her mind swam with so many thoughts.

To add to her problems, Roxas started to remember from back when they were in the Organization.

He didn't remember all of the stuff, but just the part that they were all friends with Axel.

She sighed as she got up.

"This is my last day, so I might as well make it memorable" she said.

She got dressed and went to wake her brother up.

Her insides twisted as she knew what was going to happen to him.

"_I know this is wrong, but it has to be done" _she thought.

Before they left, they saw Tsukiko.

The older nobody looked like she didn't get any sleep.

Either Diz zapped her for too long, or she was up thinking about today.

She hugged each of them tightly.

"I'm going to miss you both so much" she said.

Roxas looked confused.

"Why?" he asked.

"We'll be back later"

Tsukiko smiled weakly.

"I just miss you when you're gone" she said.

"I just feel lonely when you're not around"

Roxas hugged her again.

"We'll go have ice cream later since it's our last day of summer vacation" he said.

Tsukiko nodded.

"That sounds nice" she said.

He walked out of the apartment while Ankoku stayed behind.

She gave Tsukiko a weak smile.

"Come on, Tsukiko" she said.

"It won't be so bad. We're finally going to meet our other halves"

Tsukiko wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I don't want you to do this" she said.

"You belong here. You shouldn't go back to this Hikari girl"

Ankoku shook her head.

"This is the right choice" she said.

"It's what my instincts tell me. Since I don't have a heart, I'm just going to follow it"

Tsukiko looked at the ground.

"I should have never told you that" she said.

Ankoku chuckled weakly.

She hugged her friend, for what would be the last time.

"Just remember that you were my best friend" she said.

"Thanks for giving me such awesome memories"

Tsukiko hugged her tightly and cried silently.

"Since you're going to return to your other self, then that means I'll return to mine" she said.

She pulled away and smiled weakly at her.

"Let's meet on the other side"

Ankoku nodded.

"I'll be waiting" she said.

She waved goodbye and ran after Roxas.

When she was out of sight, Riku appeared before her.

"I take it you're here to return me to Taiyouko?" she asked.

Riku held out his hand.

"Just follow me" he said.

Tsukiko sighed.

"It's not like I have anything else here" she said.

She followed him through a portal to face her fate.

/

When Ankoku ran towards the usual spot, she crashed into her brother.

Roxas looked upset about something.

"What's wrong, Roxas?" Ankoku asked.

"It's the gang!" he said.

"They didn't notice me! And when I looked at the pictures of us, we weren't in the group! I don't know what's wrong!"

Ankoku figured that Diz did this.

He didn't want them to be attached to the data friends that he created.

Ankoku sighed.

She knew she couldn't lie and say don't worry about it.

He needed to know the truth.

She gripped his shoulder.

"Roxas, Listen-"

She was interrupted when a portal opened up to reveal Axel.

The red head sighed.

"Look at what it's come to" he said.

"I've been given these icky orders to destroy you both-if you refuse to come back with me"

Ankoku growled.

"I thought I told you to leave!" she said.

Roxas studied him for a moment.

"We're…best friends, right?" he asked.

Axle looked off to the side.

"Sure…but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for…"

He realized what Roxas said.

"Wait a sec! you remember now?"

Roxas nodded.

Axel grinned.

"Great!"

He studied him for a sec.

"What's our boss's name?" he asked.

Roxas looked puzzled for a sec.

That was all Axel needed.

"Can't believe this…" he said.

Ankoku summoned her keyblade.

"Well you better start" she said.

Axel glared at her and summoned his Chakrams.

He went to throw one at her, but he seemed to have frozen in place.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

Just then, they heard Diz talk.

"_Roxas, Ankoku, to the mansion!"_

This was it.

Ankoku tugged on her brother's arm.

"Come on, let's go" she said.

Roxas looked startled.

"But"

Ankoku looked at him.

"Do you want to stay here when Axel unfreezes? Let's go!"

They ran towards where the mansion was.

/

When they left, Axel was unfrozen.

He sighed as he shook his head.

"The Roxas and Ankoku I know are long gone" he said.

He looked off into the distance darkly.

"Fine, I see how it is…"

/

As the twins ran towards the mansion, they kept getting attacked by nobodies.

They slashed through them with their keyblades and kept running.

"Why are we going to the mansion?" Roxas asked.

Ankoku looked over her shoulder to him.

"I don't know" she said.

"It's just a gut instinct"

They ran through the woods and made it to the mansion.

They would have gone in, had the gates been unlocked.

Ankoku looked over her shoulder to see a group of Dusks surround them.

Roxas banged his fist against the gates.

"Now what?" he asked.

He looked at his keyblade for a second.

Ankoku came up with an idea and pointed hers towards the lock.

Roxas did the same and watched as a beam of light shot out from them.

The gates opened up for them.

When they ran into the mansion, Riku and Taiyouko stood in front of the gates.

They both drew their weapons and aimed them at the dusks.

"This is as far as you go" Taiyouko said.

/

When they went into the mansion, Roxas looked at his sister.

"I think Namine's room is here" he said.

"I want to see if she's here too"

Ankoku nodded.

They went up the stairs and entered the white room.

Pictures were littered everywhere.

When Roxas came to a certain one, his head started to hurt.

Ankoku looked at him.

"Roxas?" she asked.

When the pain died away, he looked at the table to see Namine sitting there.

"Organization Xlll…" he said.

"They're a bad group"

Namine just shrugged.

"Bad or good, I don't know" she said.

"They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately trying to search for something"

"What?" Roxas asked.

Namine looked at him gravely.

"Kingdom Hearts" she said.

Roxas chuckled weakly.

"You think this is funny?" Ankoku asked.

Roxas shook his head.

"It's just…" he said.

"I think-I've been running from the questions that I want answered: what's going to happen to me?"

He looked at Namine for an answer.

Namine sighed.

"You are…"

As she was about to say the rest, she disappeared.

Ankoku realized she was a data version.

Just then, Diz appeared.

"There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fate" he said.

Roxas glared at him.

"Even if it doesn't, I wanna know" he said.

"I have the right to know!"

Diz scoffed.

"A nobody doesn't have a right to know" he said.

"Nor does it even have a right to be"

"But what IS a nobody?" Roxas asked

Ankoku glared at Diz.

"Come on, just tell him" she said.

Diz glared at her.

"Silence" he said.

Just then, Riku and Taiyouko appeared.

"Diz, we're out of time" Riku said.

"Too many nobodies!"

Another portal opened up and the Namine appeared.

She looked frantic as she saw Roxas.

"Roxas. Nobodies like us are only half a person" she said.

"You won't disappear. You'll be whole!"

Roxas panicked.

"I'll…disappear?" he asked.

Diz glared at Namine.

"No further outburst!" he said.

He went over to her and started dragging her back through the portal, but she struggled.

"No, you WON'T disappear!" she said.

Roxas went to help her, but Riku and Taiyouko blocked his way.

Namine pulled Diz's hand from her mouth.

"Roxas, Ankoku, we'll meet again" she said.

"And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again, I promise"

With that, Diz closed the portal on them.

"Namine!" Roxas cried.

Taiyouko looked at them.

"Go to the library" she said.

"You'll find your answers there"

Riku opened a portal for them and too Taiyouko somewhere safe.

Ankoku looked at her brother.

"Come on" she said.

She tugged him towards the library.

/

When they got to the library, they saw a table with a strange symbol on it.

It was incomplete, but Ankoku got a vision of what the next symbol would be.

When she drew it in, a secret path way that lead downstairs opened up for them.

They slowly walked through the computerized area.

When they got to a set of computers, Roxas gripped his head.

Memories of when he was in the Organization and how he ended up here flashed through his mind.

In his anger, he smashed the computer with his keyblade.

Ankoku pulled him back.

"Roxas, stop!" she cried.

"Smashing things won't solve anything"

Roxas glared at her.

"But I remembered everything" he said.

Ankoku sighed.

"And what good is it going to do for us now?" she asked.

She pointed towards a door that lead further into the room.

"Let's go" she said.

"I have a feeling that we'll find our answers in there"

They walked through the dark room and came face to face with a group of nobodies.

They managed to destroy them all, but they weren't out of the woods yet.

Axel appeared and walked towards them.

"Simply amazing, you guys" he said.

Ankoku sighed.

"You never quit, do you?" she asked.

Roxas looked at him.

"Axel" he said.

The red head smirked darkly at him.

"You really do remember me this time?" he said.

"I'm SO FLATTERED!"

A ring of fire caged them all in.

"But you're too late!" Axel cried.

The twins glared at him.

It seemed like talking wasn't going to get them anywhere, so they had to use force.

They both summoned their keyblades, along with their second set.

Axel looked surprised.

"Two?" he asked.

He summoned his Chakrams and smiled evilly at them.

"Come here, I'll make it all stop" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"Give it up!"

They both attacked him without mercy.

They were no longer friends, but enemies.

All of the memories they made in the Organization shattered up to this point.

Axel seemed to put his all in the fight, but it seemed the twins were too much for him.

He couldn't block four keyblades at the same time.

The fires died out when Axel was defeated.

He dropped his Chakrams and let them burst into flames.

Roxas looked at him.

"Axel" he said.

The red head weakly smiled at them.

"Let's meet again…in the next life" he said.

Roxas nodded.

"Sure. We'll be waiting" he said.

Axel chuckled weakly.

"Silly" he said.

"Just because you two have a next life"

Ankoku walked up to him.

She despite everything that happened between them, Axel was still her friend.

She didn't want to leave on bad terms.

"I'm sorry, Axel" she said.

"But this is our fate. We've decided on it a long time ago"

Axel gave her a defeated look.

"You would rather go back to your original self, than to be with your friends?" he asked.

Ankoku shook her head.

"No" she said.

"I'm going back, because I want to protect my friends"

She gave him a serious look.

"Just because we choose our fate, doesn't mean Tsukiko choose hers" she said.

She wanted her closet friend to be saved, even if it wasn't from her.

"Instead of wasting your strength on bringing us back, why not use it to save her? After all, she is your girlfriend"

Axel gave her a weak chuckle.

"I guess you're right" he said.

He gave a weak smile.

"See ya, Ankoku…and…I'm sorry"

Ankoku nodded.

"I'll be seeing you"

With that, Axel vanished through a portal.

Ankoku looked at Roxas.

"Let's go" she said.

He nodded and they headed through the next room.

/

Pods lined the walls of the next room.

As they were walking, they noticed to figures sleeping in them.

It was the duck and dog that they saw in Sora and Hikari's memories.

"Donald" Roxas said.

"Goofy" Ankoku added.

They looked at the door that stood in front of them.

"_That's where Sora and Hikari's pods are" _Ankoku thought.

So this was it.

This was her final moment as Ankoku.

She looked at Roxas.

This would be the final time that she was a twin.

The final time that she saw Roxas.

"Roxas" she said.

She gripped his shoulder.

"I just want you to know, that no matter what happens, I'll be there for you" she said.

"Since we're twins, we'll do everything together"

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"What brought that up?" he asked.

Ankoku chuckled and rubbed her head.

"I guess it's my sibling side coming out" she said.

They walked through the door, where they would face their final moments.

/

Diz was waiting for them.

He seemed to look relieved that they finally came.

"At last, they keyblades chosen ones" he said.

Roxas glared at him.

"Who are you talking t?" he asked.

"Us? Or Sora and Hikari?"

"To half of them, of course" Diz said.

"You reside in darkness. What I need are those who can move about in the realm of light and destroy Organization Xlll"

Roxas just continued to glare at him.

"Why? Who are you?" he asked.

"I am a servant of the world" Diz said.

He chuckled a little.

"And if I'm a servant, then you both should consider yourselves as tools, at best"

That tick Roxas off.

"Was that…was that suppose to be some kind of joke?" he asked.

He summoned his keybade.

"Cause I'm not laughing!"

He charged at Diz, only to find himself going through him.

"My apologies" Diz said.

"This is only a data-based projection"

Roxas shouted in frustration.

He slashed through the projected Diz before he ran out of energy.

Ankoku went up to him and gripped his shoulder.

"Roxas…"

He pulled out of her grasp and glared at her.

"You knew what was going on this whole time, didn't you?" he snapped.

Ankoku looked at him for a moment, before looking at the ground.

"Yeah" she said quietly.

Roxas growled.

"How could you keep this from me?" he asked.

"I thought we were twins? I thought we told each other everything?"

Ankoku glared at him.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" she asked.

"Besides, Diz wouldn't let me. It's hard enough on me as it is"

She had tear slide down her face.

"So instead of making me feel worse than garbage, how about you just do as your 'heart' says? I know you wanted to go to Sora. It's the same for me with Hikari"

She held out her hand.

"I said it before. We're twins, so we'll go together"

She thought he would shove her hand away, but she was surprised that he gripped it.

"As if I'd let you leave me alone" he said.

Ankoku smiled weakly.

"Let's go back…" she said.

"Back to where we belong"

Roxas nodded slowly before they walked up to the pods.

They let go when they got to where their other halves were sleeping.

Ankoku looked at Roxas one last time before looking at the pod.

She felt a lump in her throat when she saw it open.

When she saw a slightly older Hikari sleeping, she smiled weakly.

"Hikari…" she said quietly.

"I wish I could have met you when you were awake…but I guess this is good enough"

She smiled weakly.

"You take care now"

She watched as her body started to vanish.

"Looks like my little vacation's…over"

With that, she closed her eyes and returned to her original self.

/

**A/N: (wipes forehead) man, that was hard! I apologize again if it was too long. I wanted to get Ankoku in one chapter so we could see Hikari in the next.**

**I'm sure you have lots of questions about this chapter, like what happened to Tsukiko? Or what did Taiyouko say to Riku? **

**Those shall be answered as the story progresses.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Bye, Ankoku. We'll miss you!**

**Ja ne**


	2. Awaken

Chapter 2: Awaken

**A/N: Hey everyone! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Hikari is back for another adventure! Will she be able to face anything that comes in her way, or will she break down along the way?**

**Disclaimer: I don't Kingdom Heart; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

At the Twilight Town train station, a mysterious looking train came out of nowhere.

The doors opened up to reveal King Mickey.

He wore his black cloak as he stepped off the train and looked around.

/

In the subconscious of Hikari's mind, Ankoku looked at her other self.

"_Hikari?" _

The keyblade mistress stirred slightly.

"Who's there?" she asked.

Just then, she heard two familiar voices.

"Hikari!"

"Hikari, wake up"

Her eyes fluttered open to find herself floating in some sort of pod.

Donald and Goofy, who woke up a while ago, were waiting for their two friends to wake up.

When they heard the pods open up, their faces lit up.

The pod slowly opened up to reveal a slightly older Sora and Hikari.

Both of them looked like they grew a bit since their outfits looked a little small on them.

Sora stretched while Hikari yawned.

Donald and Goofy laughed at them.

When the keyblade masters were fully awake, they smiled at their friends.

"Donald!" Sora cried.

"Goofy!" Hikari added.

They jumped out of their pods, but stumbled a bit since they haven't used their legs in over a year.

Donald and Goofy steadied them for a sec before they could stand properly.

When they were all settled, they all jumped around.

They were so glad to see each other after sleeping for so long.

Jiminy appeared on Sora's shoulder and yawned.

"That was some nap!" he said.

Sora looked at him.

"You mean, we were asleep?" Sora asked.

Jiminy nodded.

"I guess we musta been, or I don't think we'd be so drowsy…" he said.

"When do ya think we went to sleep?" Goofy asked.

Sora and Hikari thought about it for a sec.

"Let's see…we defeated Ansem…" Hikari said.

"Yep" Goofy said.

"Restored peace to the world…found Kairi…" Sora added.

"Oh yeah, and then we went to look for Riku" Hikari finished.

"I think that's right so far?"

How could she forget?

She was on a quest to find the one she loved most.

After they sealed Kingdom Hearts, Riku stayed on the other side so the heartless wouldn't come out.

Not only that, but her mom was with him.

She had to find them both.

"Then what happened?"Donald asked.

Sora and Hikari thought about it for a moment, but they came up empty.

Goofy looked at Jiminy.

"What does your journal say, Jiminy?" he asked.

The cricket pulled out his trusted journal and opened it up.

"Gee, there's only one sentence…" he said.

"'Thank Namine'. Hmm, I wonder who that is?"

Everyone shrugged, indicating that they didn't know either.

Donald gave Jiminy a dull look.

"Some journal that is" he said.

Jiminy laughed nervously.

"Well, what do you say we find out where we are?" he asked.

Everyone nodded and decided to see where they were sleeping.

They walked out of the mansion and headed for the humble city of Twilight Town.

/

**A/N: I know this was really short, but since I did a really long first chapter, I wanted to take a break. The next chapter will be a lot longer than this, I promise.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne.**


	3. A new enemy

Chapter 3: A new enemy

**A/N: I'm sure everyone can tell what's going to happen next. Looks like Hikari is going to add more to her place. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

As the group walking through the alleys of Twilight Town, Sora and Hikari couldn't help but feel like they've been here before.

They were able to go to places without getting lost, and they seemed to know which store was which.

It was all too weird.

"You know, I think I've been to this town" Sora said.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, everything looks so familiar" she said.

"What's it called?" Donald asked.

They thought about it.

"I don't know" Hikari said.

"I guess we must have imagined it" Sora added.

They continued walking until they came to the Usual spot.

/

Hayner, Pence and Olette were hanging out in their usual place like always.

They all seemed lost in thought about something, that they didn't know the group came in until they did.

Hayner gave them a cold stare.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Sora waved his hands nervously.

"Uh, nothing" he said.

"Just wondering what was back here"

Hayner scoffed.

"Now you know" he said.

"This is our spot"

Hikari glared at him.

"Is that how you greet people with that attitude of yours?" she asked.

Pence walked up to them.

"Um…"

Sora looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

Pence studied them.

"You're…new around here, right?" he asked.

"I'm Pence"

Hayner walked up to them.

"Hayner, nice to meet you" he said flatly.

"But we got stuff to do, so catch you later"

He walked past them and left.

"_Jerk" _Hikari thought.

Olette walked up to them.

"My name's Olette" she said.

"Hey, did you finish up the summer homework yet? Independent studies are the worst, huh?"

The threw the group off.

"Homework?" Sora asked.

He looked at the group to see that they were as lost as he was.

"Hey, what are your names?" Pence asked.

"Oh, sorry" Goofy said.

"We're Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy"

Hikari waved.

"Hi" she said.

Pence and Olette studied them for a moment.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald, Goofy" Olette said.

"We just met someone who was looking for you"

"He sure seemed in a hurry" Pence added.

"He had a black coat on so I couldn't see his face, but he had these big round ears"

It didn't take the group to think long on that.

They knew only one person who fit that description.

"The King!" Donald cried.

If the King was here, that could only mean one thing.

"Where'd you see him?" Hikari asked.

"At the station" Pence said.

Sora nodded.

"The station. Thanks!" he said.

Donald cheered.

"Oh, boy!" he cried.

"The King is trying to find us!"

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, let's go to the station" she said.

They all nodded and hurried out of the Usual Spot.

/

When they arrived at the train station, they were amazed by the view.

"I've never seen a sunset like this before" Hikari said.

As they were about to head inside the station, they were surrounded by a bunch of white creatures.

They swayed like a bunch of snakes as they closed in on them.

Hikari thought they were some kind of heartless, but when she saw the logo on their heads, she realized they weren't.

While the heartless had a heart-like symbol on them, these creatures had an upside down type of heart symbol.

She really didn't have time to think it over because everyone summoned their weapons.

She smiled when she saw her pure white keyblade.

It had helped her through the toughest trials.

She slashed through the creatures that were closest to her.

Even though she had been asleep for over a year, her moves were still at it's finest.

She would slash through one of them, then use her magic on the others.

Sora was still as active as he was before and took them out as if they were child's play.

Goofy still had a spring in his step and he flung his shield at the creatures like a boomerang and then slid on it like a skateboard to take out the rest.

Donald would cast his magic and zap whatever came into his path.

Everything was going well for them; however, they were starting to lose their energy.

Since they just woke up, they still didn't have their full strength.

Donald and Goofy collapsed on the ground while Sora and Hikari still tried to hold on.

Hikari swayed slightly when she felt her legs become heavy.

She collapsed on the ground with Sora following soon after.

They were surrounded by the creatures.

They thought they were done for, but they got help from an unexpected ally.

A figure in a black coat came out of nowhere and attacked the creatures with their keyblade

When the battle was over, Sora and Hikari recognized the keyblade.

It was King Mickey's keyblade.

Donald and Goofy were so surprised that they jumped on Sora and Hikari to get a better look at their king.

"Your Majesty?" Donald cried.

King Mickey pressed a finger to his mouth and shushed them.

"You gotta board the train and leave town!" he said.

"The train knows the way"

He pulled out a wallet and handed it to them.

"Here"

Hikari took the wallet and examined it.

They all looked at the wallet for a sec then back a Mickey.

They were surprised to see that he ran off.

"Your Majesty…" Donald said.

They watched as King Mickey left the station area and headed back to the market place.

Sora was surprised.

"The King…was that really him?" he asked.

"It coulda been…" Goofy said.

He suddenly nodded.

"Yep, I know it was!"

"Now we know he's okay!" Donald said.

They all reflected to when they last saw King Mickey.

"The King was locked in the realm of darkness, right?" Sora asked.

"Uh-huh" Goofy said.

"But we just saw him…" Sora said.

Donald nodded.

Hikari's face lit up.

That could only mean one thing.

"And if the King's here, that means Riku's here!" she cried.

Memories of when she gave him her lucky charm flashed through her mind.

She remembered when he gave her, her first kiss and told her that he loved her.

She also remembered that her mother was with him too.

Since she was sealed in her pendant, she was probably with Riku.

She smiled at the thought.

Riku was ok.

She would be able to see him again.

"He's gotta be!" Donald said.

Hikari smiled.

"Well, I'm gonna go look for Riku" she said.

"Then, he, Sora and I can go back to the islands together"

Sora nodded.

"Kairi's there waiting for us" he said.

He looked at Donald and Goofy.

"What are you two gonna do?" he asked.

They both gave him a look.

"Gawrsh, Sora" Goofy said.

"Do you have to ask?"

Hikari laughed.

Donald got mad.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

Hikari smiled and pointed at them.

"Your face" she said.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other and saw each other's expressions.

They too started laughing at the sight.

When their laughter died down, Sora looked at his friends.

"What do you say, guys?" he asked.

"Let's stick together for one more journey"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's go on the train" Hikari said.

They all headed inside the train station to get their tickets.

/

Just as they were about to get their tickets, they heard someone calling them.

"Wait up!"

They turned around to see Hayner, Pence and Olette coming up towards them.

"Hey, you guys…" Hayner said.

Hikari noticed that his attitude changed drastically.

"_I guess something was on his mind at the time" _she thought.

"We came to see you off" Pence said.

"It just seemed like something we outta do"

Sora looked surprised.

"Oh…really?" he asked.

"Thanks"

The bell for the train started ringing.

"You should hurry and get your tickets" Olette said.

Sora nodded and went to go buy the tickets.

When he pulled out the wallet that the King gave them, Olette looked surprised.

"What is it?" Donald asked.

Olette pulled out her wallet to show that they looked exactly the same.

"They're the same" Goofy said.

Sora just shrugged and ordered the tickets.

When they looked at the train, Sora suddenly looked sad.

"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again…" he said.

Hikari nodded slowly.

"Yeah…it's like if we leave, it'll disappear" she said.

Everyone looked at them strangely.

"Why not?" Donald asked.

"You're thinking too much" Goofy said.

Hikari gave him a sheepish grin.

"You're probably right" she said.

They headed towards the train that Mickey came off of.

"Okay, let's go" Sora said.

Everyone nodded.

Donald and Goofy got on the train while Sora and Hikari stayed behind.

"Bye" Sora said.

Hayner looked at them.

"Hey you guys" he said.

"You sure we haven't met before?"

They both thought about it.

"Positive" Sora said.

"Why do you ask?" Hikari asked.

Hayner shrugged.

"I dunno" he said.

Sora and Hikari both smiled for a moment before a tear fell down their faces.

The others looked surprised.

Sora and Hikari looked surprised themselves.

"I must have got something in my eye" Hikari said.

"Don't know where that came from" Sora said.

Hayner chuckled.

"Pull it together" he said.

Sora rubbed his head while Hikari chuckled.

"Right" Hikari said.

Sora waved at them.

"See ya" he said.

They both got on the train before it closed the doors.

Hayner, Pence and Olette watched as the train left, feeling as if they just lost some dear friends.

/

Back on the train, Sora was leaning against the door while Hikari was sitting in one of the seats.

She watched as Donald and Goofy looked at the scenery from the window.

She looked at Sora to see him pull something out of the wallet.

He held up two crystals in his hand.

One was blue while the other was white.

"Oh, pretty" she said.

Sora chuckled and handed her the white one.

She examined it while Sora examined the blue one.

"You know…" he said.

"I'm sad"

Donald and Goofy gave him a sympathetic look.

"We'll be back" Donald said.

Goofy nodded.

"Yeah. We can visit Hayner and those guys again" Goofy added.

Hikari chuckled before putting they crystal in her pocket.

When she did, she felt something was already in there.

"Huh?"

She pulled it out to see that it was a piece of paper.

"Where did this come from?"

She opened it up and saw that it was a drawing of herself and Riku holding hands, while her pendant was tied around them.

She was amazed by how well it was drawn.

She smiled softly as she looked at Riku's face.

If she couldn't see the real one's now, then she would be fine looking at this.

She suddenly grew tired.

Fighting those creature wore her out.

Yawning, she lay down on the seat she was on while the train took them to some unknown destination.

/

**A/N: So their journey has begun. I'm sure you're all wondering what Hikari's new outfit will look like.**

**You'll have to wait a while, because next time, we get to see what has happened to our lovely Tsukiko.**

**Will Axel save her, or will Riku and Taiyouko let her go?**

**You'll just have to review to find out.**

**Ja ne**


	4. Fire that illuminates the moon

Chapter 4: Fire that illuminates the moon

**A/N: Now we get to see what happened to Tsukiko. Since Riku and Taiyouko were in charge of her, they get to decided her fate. Will she get to see her beloved it Axel before she leaves?**

**This chapter takes place in one of the cutscenes in Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Tsukiko and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Axel gripped the fence that lined the sunset hill.

He sensed Roxas and Ankoku's presence vanishing.

He knew what happened to them.

"They're gone" he said quietly.

Namine sat on the bench, holding her sketchbook tightly.

When Diz dragged her away from telling Roxas and Ankoku their fates, he brought her here.

She looked at the red head.

"We should go now" she said.

Axel looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"You don't have any place to go, do you?" he asked.

"And you have nowhere to go back, right?"

He chuckled weakly.

"Such things don't exist for guys like us" he said.

Namine nodded slowly.

"That's right" she said.

"There's no place for me"

She looked at her sketch book, which held the picture Hikari drew for her.

"Still…I have some places I want to go…" she said.

"I have some people I want to see"

Axel thought about his girlfriend.

"Yeah. Me too" he said.

Just then, Riku and Taiyouko showed up with Tsukiko in tow.

She had tears streaks run down her face.

She too had sense Ankoku vanishing.

Riku brought her here shortly after he came for her in the data Twilight Town.

He didn't tell her much, only that she had to follow him.

She didn't know why she had to come to Sunset Hill when she was returning to Taiyouko.

But when she caught sight of a familiar red head, she gasped.

"Axel?" she choked.

Axel looked surprised too, but when he saw Riku, his face hardened.

"You took away my friends, and now you're taking away my girl in front of me?"

He summoned his chakrams and set them on fire.

"Bad move on your part" he said.

Taiyouko stood in between them.

She gave the red head a weak smile.

"It's been a while…Lea" she said.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Taiyouko?" he asked.

He looked between her and Tsukiko.

It suddenly dawned on him what was going on.

"I see" he said.

"She's your nobody"

Taiyouko nodded.

"Yes" she said.

"And now she needs to return to where she belongs"

Tsukiko panicked.

She ran up to her other half and gripped her shoulders.

She had tears running down her face.

"Please don't do this" she begged.

"I know I'm supposed to go back to you, but I don't want to! I didn't do anything wrong! I did what I was told! I had to let Diz take my friends away from me. Please don't do this, Taiyouko"

Taiyouko just gave her a sad look.

"I'm sorry, Tsukiko. But this has to be done" she said.

She looked at Riku and nodded.

He went up to her and removed the shock collar from her neck.

Taiyouko gave her a weak smile.

"Goodbye, Tsukiko. I'm sorry you had to go through this" she said.

Axel gripped his Chakrams tightly and looked like he was about to throw them.

Tsukiko closed her eyes tightly and waited for the moment to when she would return.

Instead, she was shocked when Riku pushed her towards Axel's direction.

She opened her eyes and looked at them.

Taiyouko nudged her head in Axel's direction.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked.

"Go"

Axel dismissed his weapons and looked at them suspiciously.

What were they up to?

Tsukiko blinked for a sec.

Why wasn't she being return to Taiyouko?

Wasn't that what Diz said.

"But I thought Diz said I had to return to where I belonged?" she asked.

Taiyouko nodded.

"He did" she said.

"But he never said _where _you had to return to" Riku added.

"And since you were pulled into this by accident, we're just returning you to your home"

Tsukiko looked at Taiyouko.

She wasn't going back to her?

"Don't you want me back?" she asked.

Taiyouko just chuckled and shook her head.

She went up to her and gripped her shoulders.

"Do you want to know the reason why I gave you a heart and erased your memories?" she asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"It's because I wanted you to have your own life" Taiyouko said.

"I felt so guilty over the way that you were created, that I wanted you be as normal as any other human. I wanted you to experience feelings like I do"

She gave her a small smile.

"And from what I've seen…you've already done I fine job of creating a normal life" she said.

"You were even able to fall in love"

Tsukiko slowly looked at Axel before nodding.

"Yes" she said.

Tears ran down her face as she looked at her boyfriend.

"I love you, Axel" she said.

"I really love you"

Axel looked touched by her words.

"Tsukiko" he said.

She smiled at him and ran into his arms.

Axel held her tightly and ran a hand through her hair.

Taiyouko smiled softly when she saw them kiss.

When they broke the kiss, Axel looked at them.

"What's the deal?" he asked.

"I thought that old man told you to get rid of us?"

Namine looked up at Riku horrified.

"Really?" she asked.

Riku didn't say anything for a moment.

Instead, he nudged his head towards Axel's direction.

"Go" he said.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you think you should accomplish your task here?" he asked.

It's not like he was going to let him, he just wanted to know why he had a change of heart.

Taiyouko looked at him.

"We owed you two" she said.

Namine looked confused.

"How?" she asked.

"At Castle Oblivion" Riku explained.

Namine nodded in understanding.

Axel smirked.

"Okay. Thanks then" he said.

He opened up a portal.

Everyone looked at Namine.

The witch fiddle with her notebook.

"I'm sorry" she said.

She got up and ran through the portal.

Tsukiko looked at Taiyouko.

"Thank you" she said.

Taiyouko smiled and looked at Axel.

"You take care of her, Lea" she said.

"She's really special"

Axel smirked.

"You don't have to tell me that twice" he said.

With that, they both ran into the portal and closed it behind them.

Taiyouko sighed.

"You know…I always thought it was impossible for nobodies to feel anything" she said.

"But after seeing the way those two react, it changes my perspective"

She looked at Riku and gave him a small smile.

"I guess we should be going too" she said.

Riku nodded.

He opened a portal for them to go through.

Before they left, Taiyouko gripped his arm.

"Thank you for understanding" she said.

"I didn't think you would take it all well after I told you everything"

Riku shrugged.

"We've all done a lot of things in the past that we regret" he said.

"I'm no different"

Taiyouko nodded.

"Then let's go. We're not going to accomplish anything by just standing around"

With that, they went through their own portal to take care of their own business.

/

**A/N: You guys didn't expect me to return Tsukiko to Taiyouko, did you? I couldn't do that to her and Axel. Even if they are nobodies, they still love each other dearly. You don't need a heart to feel that emotion.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	5. Mysterious Tower

Chapter 5: Mysterious Tower

**A/N: It's the moment you've all been waiting for! We finally get to see Hikari's new outfit! I'll have to admit, I her outfit for this story all planned out before I created her outfit from the first story. Most of my pictures of her are with this outfit. I hope it's to your liking.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_Hikari giggled as Leon walked with her to the park._

_They were able to convince Taiyouko to let them go since it was such a nice day out._

_Leon smiled softly at his sister._

"_So what do you want to do when we get there?" he asked._

_Hikari jumped up and down._

_Her mint green dress swayed around her as she did so._

"_I wanna go on the swings!" she said._

_Leon chuckled._

"_Ok, then swings it is" he said._

_When they got there, they saw a bunch of kids already there._

_Hikari's face lit up._

"_Hey, maybe they can play with us?" she asked._

_She let go of Leon's hand and ran towards the kids._

_Leon panicked and ran after her._

"_Hikari, wait!"_

_When Hikari got to the kids, she smiled._

"_Hi! Do you want to play?" she asked._

_The kids looked at her for a moment, but soon, they were pulled away by their parents._

_A mother glared at her as she held her son close to her._

_She looked at her son._

"_You stay away from her" she said._

"_She's a sorceress. She's dangerous"_

_The boy nodded, not knowing what his mother meant._

_A few other parents glared at her as well._

"_Why can't you leave us alone?" one parent asked._

"_You should just stay indoors" said another._

_They all stormed away with their children close to them._

_Hikari had tears running down her eyes as she saw them leave._

_What did they mean she was dangerous? _

_She didn't do anything._

_She ran to Leon and cried in his chest._

"_Ni-san" she sobbed._

"_Why were they being so mean?"_

_Leon had a grim expression on his face._

_He glared at the retreating parents before picking up Hikari._

_He held her close to him and rubbed her back._

_She hiccupped a tiny bit._

"_I'm not dangerous" she sobbed._

_Leon shushed her and he held her tightly._

"_I know, Hikari. I know" he said._

_Hikari just buried her face in his shoulder._

_Leon bit his lip._

"_Do you want to go home?" he asked._

_Hikari nodded._

"_Ok. Let's go home then" Leon said softly._

"_I'll play with you"_

_He slowly walked back to their house while holding his sister close to his chest._

_Hikari just sniffled all the way home._

/

A tear escaped Hikari's eyes when she woke up.

She remembered that no one would play with her because she was a sorceress.

She didn't know at the time, but it seemed that everyone else did.

No one would play with her.

Her only companion was Leon.

She wiped the tear from her eye and sat up.

The train came to a sudden stop.

"I guess this is our stop" Sora said.

They all got off the train to find themselves standing in front of some mysterious tower.

"Where are we?" Hikari asked.

Sora shrugged.

He looked back at the train to see it magically vanish.

He laughed nervously.

"There goes our ride" he said.

"I guess that's one version of 'one way'" Hikari said.

Sora just snorted and looked at Donald and Goofy.

The two of them seemed to be amazed by the tall tower that stood in front of them.

This whole place seemed to be in some sort of parallel universe.

Sora noticed someone near the front doors and appeared to be peeking inside.

"Who's that?" he asked.

Hikari shrugged.

"I don't know" she said.

"Let's find out"

They went up to the doors and got a better look of the person peeking in.

He appeared to be very bulky, wearing a strange uniform.

"What's going on?" Donald asked.

The person chuckled.

"I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big as they say" he said.

"Word is, he's a really powerful sorcerer" he said.

"Which would make him a really powerful bodyguard for me"

That caught Hikari's attention.

So there were other magical beings besides sorceresses?

The person just laughed.

"See, it don't matter how tough he is-once he's a heartless, he'll do as I say!" he said.

That caught everyone's attention.

"A heartless?"

The person nodded.

"That's right" he said.

"They're those things that come outta the darkness in folk's hearts. Why, with all those heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything! And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' 'round to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of heartless special for her"

Hikari gasped.

Maleficent?

She was destroyed back at Hallow Bastion.

She would know since she was the one who defeated her.

The person scoffed.

"Why am I talking to you pipsqueaks anyway?" he asked.

"Go on, scram! I'm behind schedule as it is"

"You oughta find something nicer to do" Goofy said.

The person turned around.

"Says who?"

It turned out that the person was not human, but rather, a giant bulldog.

The bulldog looked surprised to see Donald and Goofy.

"Wha…AHH it's you two!" he cried.

Donald and Goofy looked surprised as well.

"Pete?" they asked.

The bulldog glared at them.

"What are you two nimrods doing here?" he asked.

"What are YOU doing here?" Donald retorted.

Sora and Hikari looked at them.

"You know him?" Hikari asked.

"We sure do!" Goofy said.

"Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped"

Pete smirked evilly.

"You wanna know, eh?" he asked.

"Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how!"

He pointed towards them.

"And now your world-no, no, no, all the worlds-area gonna belong to yours truly. Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!"

Sora wore a know-it-all smirk.

"Maleficent…huh?" he asked.

Hikari resisted the urge to giggle.

It seemed that Pete didn't know what happened to her.

They all suddenly started laughing.

They just found it funny that this Pete guy thought she was still alive.

Pete glared at them.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"Why, Maleficent's power is so great-"

"She's toast" Hikari said.

Pete looked confused.

"Huh?"

Goofy smirked.

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now" he said.

"Whaddya mean?" he asked.

It suddenly dawned on him what they were talking about.

"You!" he cried.

"So you're the one that did it!"

Sora smirked and placed his hands behind his head.

"Well…we mighta had something to do with it" he said.

Pete growled in frustration.

"Heartless Squad!" he ordered.

"Roundup!"

Just then, a group of neo-shadow heartless appeared.

They surrounded the group and closed in on them.

Sora and the others just smirked as they summoned their weapons.

"This will be child's play" Sora said.

They got rid of the heartless with ease.

They were a lot easier to defeat that those white creatures they fought in Twilight Town.

When they were gone, they looked at Pete.

The bulldog just growled in frustration.

"You just wait!" he said.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody messes with the mighty Pete!"

Hikari just gave him a dull look.

"Uh-huh, sure" she said.

Sora was the same.

"So, 'mighty' Pete" he said.

"Who lives in this tower, anyway?"

Pete smirked darkly.

"Oh, ya don't know, eh?" he asked.

"Well, it's old Yen Sid. 'Course he's probably a heartless by now!"

Donald's eyes went wide.

"Master Yen Sid lives here?"

He ran inside the building.

Sora and Hikari gave Goofy a confused look.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher" he explained.

Hikari looked amazed.

If he taught the King, then he had to be a very powerful wizard.

"Wow. Sounds powerful" Sora said.

Goofy nodded.

The three of them ran off after Donald to meet this Yen Sid.

Pete's mouth hung open when he saw them leave.

How dare they walk away from the 'Mighty' Pete.

He stomped his foot in frustration before walking off.

/

Inside the tower, the group noticed that the only way to go was up.

They went up a set of mysterious stairs that seemed to be hovering in midair and went through certain rooms.

They went through the star room and were created to a group of heartless.

They got rid of them with ease and continued on upward.

When they made it to the moon room, there was another group of heartless.

When they were gone, Donald stomped his foot in frustration.

"Heartless, heartless, heartless!" he cried.

"Nothing's changed one bit!"

"Well, it's a good thing we're on the job, then" Goofy pointed out.

Sora crossed his arms in thought.

"So the worlds aren't at peace after all?" he asked.

Hikari sighed.

"I thought that problem was fixed when we sealed Kingdom Hearts" she said.

They just went up the stairs and entered Yen Sid's room.

/

When they met, Yen Sid, Hikari felt a strong aura coming from him.

He really was a powerful sorcerer.

He wore a long blue robe with a matching pointed hat and had a long grey beard that split at the end.

Donald and Goofy immediately bowed with Hikari soon following.

She remembered her mom telling her to respect her elders.

"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald said.

Sora, who was standing up the whole time, just waved.

"Hey there" he said.

Donald and Goofy looked at him.

"Sora! Show some respect!" Donald snapped.

Hikari just rolled her eyes.

Of course he would be oblivious to everything.

Yen Sid just waved it off, showing that he didn't mind.

He gave Sora and Hikari a serious look.

"So, you are Sora and Hikari" he said.

"Now then, have you seen the King?"

Hikari slowly stood up.

"Yes, sir" she said.

"But we really didn't get the chance to talk to him"

Yen Sid nodded.

"Yes…the King has been quiet busy of late" he said.

"Therefore, it would seem that the task of instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you. You must be well prepared"

Sora tiled his head.

"You mean…we have to go on another quest?" he asked.

Hikari looked at the sorcerer.

"I was looking forward to finding my sweetheart, Riku, so we could all go back to the islands" she said.

Yen Sid nodded.

"Yes, I know" he said.

"However, everything in yours and Sora's journey has continued. Whether you will find your way home to the islands…whether you will return alone or with your friends…and, whether or not the islands will still be there. And the keys that connects to them all, is you two"

Sora and Hikari let all this information sink in.

"We're…they keys?" Sora asked.

As if by instinct, they both summoned their keyblades.

Yen Sid looked at them seriously.

"Chosen wielders of the keyblades!" he said.

"You are the keys that will open the door to the light"

Sora and Hikari nodded.

Yen Sid then summoned a book and handed it to them.

"This book contains all the information you will need for your journey" he said.

"Study it well"

They both read what the book had to offer.

When they were done, they looked up at the sorcerer.

"But wait a sec-how come the heartless are still running around?" Sora asked.

"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that" Yen Sid admitted.

"However, the heartless are darkness made real-and darkness yet lingers in every heart. The heartless are fewer. But while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them"

Everyone hung their head in defeat.

That wasn't good.

"Gawrsh, that must mean…"Goofy said.

"If everybody's heart was full of light, them heartless will go away!"

Yen Sid nodded.

"Now it is time to speak of the enemies you'll encounter" he said.

He projected an image of Donald, which transformed into a heartless.

"If one such as you, Donald yields to the darkness in their heart, they too become heartless" Yen Sid said.

"But you know this"

Everyone nodded.

Hikari knew full well what would happen if someone gave into the darkness.

She had Riku to thank her for that.

She just hoped that he didn't give in again.

It would break her heart.

"The heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts" Yen Sid said.

"Never let down your guard! Now then…"

He conjured up another image, only this time, it was one of the creatures they encountered in Twilight Town.

"At times, if someone with a strong heart and will-be they evil or good-becomes a heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of it's own" Yen Sid said.

"An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away…a spirit that goes on even as its body fades from existence- for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all"

Hikari studied the creatures that she know knew were nobodies.

"Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse-they only pretend to have hearts" Yen Sid continued.

"You must not be deceived!"

"Nobodies…" Sora said quietly.

"They don't exist…"

Yen Sid summoned up three more images of the nobodies.

"Now then…the being you see before you is known as a Dusk" he said.

"They are the most common form of nobody. But there are others- some larger, some with frightening and unique powers. Be vigilant! On your journey, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm. Still, they are nothing but empty shells, destined to return to the darkness. But-"

The dusks transformed into three figures wearing black coats.

"The beings you see before you now are different" Yen Sid said.

"These powerful nobodies have formed a group called Organization Xlll. It commands the lesser nobodies"

Sora and Hikari studied them.

"Organization Xlll…"

They looked at Donald and Goofy to see if they knew anything, but they just shrugged.

"While heartless act on instinct, nobodies function in a higher manner" Yen Sid said.

"They can think and plan. And it seems they are working towards a goal. What that goal is, we do not know"

The group looked at him.

"The King sensed the danger, and journeyed fourth to fight it" Yen Sid said.

"He found the dark realm's keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now he's traveling from world to world, fighting the heartless as he seeks the answers to the riddle of the nobodies and Organization Xlll"

Sora looked at the group.

"Then I guess we better go find the King first" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, he was with Riku and my mom when we closed the door. Maybe he knows where they are" she said.

Yen Sid nodded.

"So, before you go, you will need more suitable traveling clothes" he said.

"Those look a bit too small for you"

Sora and Hikari looked at their outfits.

They had to admit, they were pretty tight fitting.

Hikari's black pants almost looked like caprice and her mint colored shirt was turning into a belly shirt.

Not to mention her combat boots were killing her.

Donald and Goofy snickered at them.

Yen Sid pointed towards a door next to him.

"Through there, you will find three good fairies" he said.

"If you ask, they'll create appropriate garments for you"

They nodded and headed towards the other room.

Sora looked at the group.

"Me, Hikari, you guys, Riku and the King…" he said.

"I don't care who this Organization is or what it's planning. With the six of us-I mean, eight of us-there's nothing to worry, right?"

Everyone nodded and opened the doors to the other room.

/

The fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather were waiting for the group when they came in.

Flora smiled when she saw them.

"Well, look who's here, dears!" she said.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy!"

"Oh, if you're here looking for clothes, you've come to the right place!" Merryweather said.

"I'll do the designing" Fauna said.

The fairies pulled Sora and Hikari towards them.

Fauna took out her wand and zapped Sora's clothes.

Nothing really happened, except they turned green.

Hikari made a face at the color.

It didn't look good on him.

The other fairies seemed to think the same thing and started zapping him with their colors.

They kept changing his outfit color over and over again.

They didn't even notice that Maleficent's pet raven was watching them.

Sora tired of the color changing and just snapped.

"Will you just make up your mind?" he asked.

The fairies composed themselves and transformed his outfit at the same time.

The end results were amazing.

Sora no longer had his red outfit, but a black and gray one instead.

It was a lot longer than his old outfit, but it still held the baggy pants.

"Looking good, Sora" Hikari said.

The fairies turned to her.

"Now it's your turn dear" Flora said.

Hikari held up a hand before they could do anything.

"I had an outfit in mind"

She went over to them and whispered her idea.

The fairies nodded.

"I'm sure we can make that" Fauna said.

They all aimed their wands at her and transformed her outfit completely.

In the end, she looked entirely different than she did before.

She no longer wore pants or a regular shirt like she used to.

Instead, she wore a red, spaghetti like top that tied in the front, but loose near the end, so she could show off her belly. On the top of it, she had a little open black heart.

She wore white shorts that had a black skirt over it and had a silver sash tied to her left side.

And to top it all off, she wore black lace up boots that went up to her knees.

Hikari looked at herself in the mirror and admired her new look.

"Now this is more me" she said.

The guys went wide eyed at their female friend.

"Hikari…" Sora said.

Hikari giggled when she saw his face beat red.

"You are so innocent, Sora" she said.

"Now these aren't ordinary garment" Flora said.

The keybalde masters looked at her.

"They have very special powers" Fauna said.

Flora waved her wand and produced a set of glowing orbs.

"Take the orbs" she said.

"And watch what happens"

They each grabbed an orb and watch their outfits change.

Sora's outfit turned red while Hikari's entire outfit turned red that seemed to make her glow.

They also noticed that they now wielded two keyblades.

Sora had the Oathkeeper keyblade while Hikari had the Oblivion.

"Wow, two keyblades" Goofy said.

"This journey is going to be twice as difficult as your last" Merryweather pointed out.

Sora and Hikari hung their heads.

They didn't need to hear that.

They thanked the fairies and went back to see Yen Sid.

/

The sorcerer was waiting for them by the window.

He waved his hand and had their gummi ship appear.

"Hey, it's the Gummi ship!" Donald cried.

They all lined up to bow to Yen Sid.

"Now, now. Just a moment" Yen Sid said.

"Because of your previous endeavors , the world returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared"

"How do we get around?" Goofy asked.

"Do not fear" Yen Sid said.

"If what the King suspects is true, the worlds have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I'm afraid I don't know…however, the keyblades will serve as your guides. When a beam of light radiates from the keyblades, return to the Gummi ship. Though the worlds seem far apart and out of reach, they nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts"

With that, they nodded.

"Got it" Hikari said.

They all thanked Yen Sid and ran off to the Gummi Ship.

The sorcerer just smiled before disappearing.

/

Back in the fairies room, Maleficent's pet raven dragged a very familiar looking robe into the room.

The three fairies looked at it.

"My goodness! What's that?" Merryweather asked.

"Haven't we seen this somewhere before" Fauna asked.

Just then, the memories of Maleficent flash through their heads.

"Oh no! The memories are coming back to me!" Merryweather cried.

Just then, Maleficent's cloak rose from the ground.

The evil sorceress appeared before them resurrected.

The fairies ran out of the room to warn Yen Sid.

Maleficent grinned evilly.

She laughed darkly before disappearing from the tower.

/

**A/N: uh-oh, she's back! **

**I hoped you all liked Hikari's outfit, I got the idea from Yuna's outfit from Final Fantasy X-2.**

**We get to see a little family reunion in the next chapter!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne**


	6. Hollow Bastion

Chapter 6: Hollow Bastion

**A/N: Hey everyone! Hikari is off to visit her first world, and what better way to start off her journey than to see her loving older brother? **

**Also, just noticed that I described Pete as a bull dog when he's really a cat. I keep forgetting that because his face looks so much like one. Thanks for that HaveIgoneoffthedeependyet. So please forget Pete's original description, I'll fix that in the later chapters.**

**I also have a poll for you all to vote on. I have Hikari's music theme in mind, but I don't know which song to use. Since I'm a devoted Final Fantasy fan, I thought one of their songs would work.**

**Here are the choices:**

**Serah's theme from Final Fantasy Xlll**

**Terra's theme from Final Fantasy Vl**

**Rosa's theme from Final Fantasy lV**

**Feel free to vote, it'll help me out.**

**Disclaimer; I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

When Hikari stepped on the Gummi ship, the sense of remembrance washed over her being.

She remembered the first time that she ever stepped foot in this ship and felt the excitement of being able to travel.

Everything was déjà vu to her.

The smell of the ship was familiar.

The feeling of the seats were familiar.

And Sora and Donald's arguing was familiar.

The two were arguing over who would drive the ship.

"You got to ride the ship last time, so it's my turn!" Sora said.

Donald just shook his head and glared at him.

"No way. The last time I let you drive it, you nearly crashed us into a meteor. I'm driving!"

The two kept arguing.

"Some things never change" Goofy said.

"You got that right" Hikari said.

She went up to them and bashed their heads together.

The two of them grabbed their faces and looked at Hikari.

"What was that for?" Sora asked.

Hikari just placed her hands on her hips.

"Knock it off you two" she said.

."I'm not going to sit through another journey over who gets to steer the ship. If you can't decided, then just take turns"

Donald gave her a dull look.

"Who gets to steer first?" he asked.

Hikari just sighed and pulled out a Munny coin from her pocket.

"We'll flip a coin" she said.

"If it lands on heads, then Sora get to drive, if it lands on tail, then Donald gets to. And if you two don't like the end results, then I'll just settle it and drive the ship myself. Any questions?"

The two of them shook their heads.

They almost forgot how bossy Hikari could be.

Goofy just giggled.

"Leave it to Hikari to settle a dispute" he said.

Hikari grinned at him.

"Thank you, Goofy" she said.

Her smile vanished when she looked at her other two friends.

"I don't want any complaining from the both of you. This is a 50/50 chance, so it's fair"

They both nodded.

Hikari flipped the coin and watched as it spun on the ground.

When it settled, it landed on heads.

Sora pumped his fist.

"Yes!" he said.

Donald just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever" he said.

"You get to fly to our next world" Hikari said.

She sat in her seat and buckled.

"Now let's get the show on the road. We have worlds to save and people to find"

Everyone nodded and got in their rightful seats.

When the ship started up, everyone was in their own zone.

Hikari pulled out the picture of her and Riku holding hands and looked at it.

She made sure she kept a hold of it when her outfit was changed.

When she saw Riku's face, she pressed their picture to her chest.

She didn't know where she got it or who made it, but it made her feel relaxed.

She wasn't able to see the real Riku, so she could see this drawn one instead.

Her mind wandered to that moment when they sealed Kingdom Hearts.

After she gave her pendant to him, he gave her, her first kiss.

She would never forget that feeling as Riku placed his lips on hers.

They were so soft and warm, that it made her melt.

She just prayed that she would experience that feeling again soon.

Since Riku told her that he loved her, it just gave her more of a reason to find him.

Plus, her mom was with him.

Since her heart was sealed within her pendant, that meant she had to travel with him.

She closed her eyes as she thought about her two loved ones.

"_Mom…Riku…I swear that I'll find you both" _she thought.

When she felt the ship slowing down, she looked at Sora.

"Did we arrive at our first world?" she asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah" he said.

They all got off the ship to see what this world had in store for them.

/

Off at the villain's valley, Pete poked his head through the abandoned ruins.

If what Sora and Hikari said was true, then he was in big trouble.

He needed Maleficent's help if he wanted to gain control of the worlds.

He sheepishly looked through the dark gathering area and called out.

"Maleficent?" he asked.

"Maleficent!"

When he got no response, he gulped.

"Maybe they did really finish her off" he said.

He looked around the area.

"And this castle sure ain't what I expected" he said.

"No shine, no nothing"

He sighed.

"Now what's going to happen to our plan?"

Just then, he heard a cawing sound.

He turned around to see Maleficent's pet Raven perched on the railing of the hide out.

Pete gasped in response.

/

When the group stepped through the market area of this world, they gasped.

Hikari knew exactly where they were.

This was her home world.

"It's Hollow Bastion!" she cried.

Everyone looked around the area.

The last time that they were here, the whole place was falling apart and filled with heartless.

Now it was more civilized and it looked like it was rebuilt.

"Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now" Goofy said.

"I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay" Donald said.

Hikari's eyes lit up.

She remembered that her older brother was here too.

She smiled as she thought of him.

He was so overprotective of her and acted like a father to her.

She wanted to see him real badly.

Just then, they saw a group of heartless on the roofs of a few buildings before disappearing.

"Uh-oh. Looks like we're gonna have to do some fighting" Goofy said.

They all ran off to find Leon and to help with the heartless problem.

/

When they got to the more rural area of town, they jumped when they saw a bunch of spheres hovering around the group and popping up every now and then.

"Hey, what's going on?" Donald asked.

"That's the town's defense mechanism" someone said.

Everyone gasped and looked up.

Load and behold, Yuffie stood proudly on one of the building's roofs.

"Yuffie!" Sora cried.

The ninja smiled at them, but it vanished when a group of nobodies surrounded them.

"Look out!"

The group summoned their weapons and face the nobodies.

Hikari flung her keyblade like a boomerang and got a group of heartless before it reappeared in her hands.

Sora would spin on his heal when he was near a Dusk and confused them before slashing at them.

Donald zapped a few thunder spells at them while Goofy smash through them with his shield.

When the nobodies were gone, Yuffie waved at them.

"Hey, you guys!"

She jumped down to their level and smiled at them.

"I see you're still in top form" she said.

Sora smirked.

"What'd you expect?" he asked.

"Looks like you're doing ok"

"What'd YOU expect?" Yuffie asked.

"How are the others?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, how's Ni-san?" Hikari added.

"Great!" Yuffie said.

Sora looked at the ninja.

"Hey, Yuffie. Have you seen the King or Riku?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

Despite being happy of seeing one of her old friends, she wanted to know where the love of her life was.

Yuffie shook her head.

"Nope" she said.

She started walking off, then looked at them.

"But I had a feeling that I would see you guys" she said.

Sora held up his hand and impersonated Leon.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other"

Hikari laughed at that.

It was funny to see one of her friends acting like her serious brother.

Yuffie giggled too.

"Is that suppose to be Leon?" she asked.

Everyone laughed at that.

"Everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's house" Yuffie said.

"C'mon!"

They all followed the ninja to Merlin's house.

/

Everyone was busy doing something when they came to the wizard's house.

Cid was typing something on this huge computer while Mikomi, Aerith and Leon watched him.

Mikomi sighed and shoved Cid aside.

"You're pushing the wrong buttons" she said.

Cid shoved her out of the way and went back to typing again.

"I know you're pushing my buttons" he said.

"How your brother puts up with you is beyond me"

Mikomi just rolled her eyes.

Everyone seemed to change their appearances since they were last scene.

Aerith wore a pink and white dress with a red spaghetti like top over it.

Leon wore the same outfit, only he had a fur collar on his jacket.

Cid didn't change at all.

As for Mikomi, her hair reached to her waist and she wore black shorts that were torn at the bottom, a black tube top that had a long sleeve and covered her left arm and black sandals that laced up to her legs.

Yuffie greeted everyone.

"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" she cried.

Everyone turned around and smiled when they saw their friends.

"We missed you!" Aerith cried.

"Long time, no see" Mikomi said.

"Well, if you ain't in top shape" Cid said.

Hikari was all grins when she saw her brother.

"Ni-san!"

She ran up to him and latched herself to him.

Leon was surprised at first, but he quickly hugged her in return.

His sister was back in his arms after over a year.

Hikari smiled as she rubbed her face in his jacket.

She felt so safe and secured in his arms.

"Well, if this ain't a nice family reunion" Cid said.

Leon looked over at Sora and smirked slightly.

"I knew it" he said.

Sora looked confused.

"Knew what?" he asked.

Hikari looked up at her brother when he let go of her.

"A while back, everyone suddenly started remembering you guys, all at the same time" Leon said.

Hikari looked hurt.

He forgot about her?

"You…remembered?" Sora asked.

Donald placed his hands on his hips.

"Thanks" he said sarcastically.

Hikari looked at her brother sadly.

"You forgot about me?" she asked.

"What kind of brother are you?"

Leon was about to say something to her, but he stopped when he saw her outfit.

He didn't get a good look of it before since she ran towards him, but now that he did, he was fuming.

"What in the world are you wearing?"He asked.

"Do you realize how much skin you're showing? And why is your top slightly undone?"

He glared at Sora.

"And why were you letting her go out like this?"

Sora cringed at the look.

He almost forgot that he promised Leon that he would look after Hikari.

He didn't want to suffer the wrath of the big brother.

Mikomi just waved him off.

"She's fine" she said.

"Just look at me. You don't have a problem with what I wear"

Leon gave her a dull look.

"You're not my sister, so you're not my problem" he said.

"You're Cloud's"

Mikomi just glared at him.

Yuffie quickly changed the subject before things got out of hand.

"So what have you guys been up to?" she asked.

"We were sleepin" Goofy said.

Cid snorted.

"Where? In cold storage?" he asked.

Everyone rubbed their heads nervously.

"It doesn't matter" Aerith said.

"This is great. Everyone's together again"

Sora smiled slightly.

"So, um…we're trying to find Riku and the King" he said.

"Have you seen them?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Hikari hung her head in defeat.

She figured Riku wouldn't be here.

The last time that he was, he was with Maleficent and became Ansem's puppet.

That moment would always be a nightmare for her.

"Sorry" Mikomi said.

"But let us know if there's anything we can do to help, okay?"

"Ok" Sora said.

"Thanks"

Cid suddenly got in his face.

"Don't go thanking us just yet" he said.

Leon nodded.

"Hollow Bastion's got a problem" he said.

"A big problem"

Hikari looked at him.

"You mean like nobodies? And heartless?" she asked.

"That' right" Yuffie said.

"Sounds like you need our help" Sora said.

Leon smirked.

"Then let's cut to the chase" he said.

"We're hoping the four of you might give us a hand around here"

Hikari smiled at him.

How could she refuse her brother?

Sora smirked.

"Like we're gonna say no?" he asked.

Leon smirked.

"I forgot who I'm dealing with" he said.

Donald glared at him.

"Hey… What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Think of it as a sort of 'Leon compliment'" Aerith said.

Leon walked towards the door and opened it.

"Follow me to the bailey-there's something you need to see" he said.

Just then, Merlin appeared.

"Oh! I thought it was you" he said.

"Right on time"

Hikari looked at her brother, then at Sora.

It seemed like Merlin wanted to show them how to use magic again, but she was an expert at it.

Sora wore a knowing smile.

"Go on" he said.

"You need to catch up with Leon"

Hikari gave him a grateful smile before walking over to Leon.

He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder as they walked towards the Bailey.

Merlin looked at Sora.

"We have a lot of magic to learn" he said.

Sora laughed nervously, wishing he was in Hikari's shoes.

/

Hikari smiled as she walked along side her brother.

It was nice to be with the one person who protected her after their world was taken over.

Leon ruffled her hair when they reached the bailey.

"You sure have gotten taller since I last saw you" he said.

And it was true.

The last time Hikari saw Leon, she barely reached the top of his chest, now she reached his shoulders.

Hikari giggled.

"That's what happens when you're gone for a year" she said.

She hugged him tightly.

"I really missed you" she said.

Leon smiled softly and hugged her in return.

"I missed you too" he said.

"I'm glad you're ok"

Hikari smiled and looked out at the bailey.

She couldn't believe how much had changed in over a year.

"This place looks so different" she said.

Leon leaned against the wall and looked out.

"We have you to thank for that" he said.

"If you hadn't sealed the keyhole, none of this would have happened"

Hikari smirked.

"Hey, I'm not just a keyblade master. I'm also a sorceress and a princess of light. I have a reputation to keep up"

Leon snorted.

"I bet you do" he said.

Hikari noticed that he wore the bracelet that Taiyouko made for them.

"Hey, you still have it" she said.

She held up her wrist to show hers.

Leon smirked.

"It's the only thing I had of you while you were gone" he said.

"I guess mom was right. As long as we wear these bracelet's then we'll see each other again"

Hikari smiled.

Just then, Sora and the others came up to them.

"So, what did you want to show us?" Sora asked.

Leon pointed out towards the ravine.

"Look at that" he said.

They all looked to see heartless.

There were so many of them that it looked like a moving black sea.

"We wanted to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be" Leon said.

"Who know-maybe something even better. There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything-except…for that…and that"

He pointed to a group of nobodies.

Sora pumped his fist.

"We'll handle 'em" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. We're siblings, we should help each other"

Leon smirked.

"Well, that's good to hear" he said.

"So, do you know what's going on?"

Sora and Hikari nodded.

"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the heartless" Sora said.

"But he's not smart enough to tie how own shoes" Hikari said.

"The ones we need to worry about are the nobodies"

"And those Organization Xlll guys in charge, too!" Goofy said.

"You called?" someone said.

Everyone panicked and searched for the voice.

Sora and Hikari ran out of the bailey to see if they could find the person.

"You're doing well" Another voice said.

"Who's there?" Sora called.

Everyone summoned their weapons.

"This calls for a celebration…" the first voice said.

A horde of nobodies appeared and headed towards the bailey gates.

Leon quickly closed them and held out his Gunblade.

Hikari ran up to him and stood back to back with him.

"We'll fight together" she said.

Leon nodded.

Everyone jumped into the fray as they tried to defend the gates.

If they nobodies managed to get through it, then the marker area would be in danger.

Hikari found it to be cool that she was fighting alongside her brother.

Before, he was the one always fighting and protecting.

Now she was the one fighting and protecting.

The two of them did this combo move where Hikari would create these red spheres of light and Leon would shoot them off with his Gunblade.

When the nobodies were destroyed, Sora and Hikari ran to the bailey opening.

They heard the voice again.

"The keyblades…such marvelous weapons" it said.

"Were they only in more…capable hands"

The sound of laughter could be heard.

Sora glared at the sky.

"Show yourself!" he shouted.

Just then, a man wearing a black coat suddenly appeared.

His face was covered by a hood, but it was easy to tell what gender he was by his body structure.

He raised his hands and had five others dressed like his appear.

Hikari took a step back.

There was no way they could fight all of these guys.

"Organization Xlll!" Goofy cried.

Sora pumped his fist.

"Good! Now we can settle this!"

Hikari looked at him.

Was he crazy?

They just fought a bunch of nobodies and now he wanted to fight a group of Organization members?

The leading Organization member tilted his head.

"What a shame…" he said.

"And here I thought we could be friends"

Hikari scoffed at that.

"Who would want to be friends with a bunch of nobodies?" she asked.

The Organization just laughed at her and vanished.

"Stop!" Donald cried.

They went to run after them, but one of the lankier members appeared in front of them.

"What' the big idea?" Donald yelled.

The Organization member just laughed.

"Oopsy-Daisy" he said.

Sora glared at him.

"Move!" he said.

The Organization member just scoffed.

"Now do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" he asked.

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

That voice sounded really familiar.

"I said get outta the way!" Sora snapped.

"As if!" the Organization member said.

"You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing"

Hikari glared at him and held her keyblade out.

"Then how about using force? That oughta make you move" she said.

The Organization member just crossed his arms.

"See, that would work-if I were just any old dude" he said.

"Except I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me"

Sora scoffed.

"Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his nobody flunkies did the fighting!" he said.

"You're all bark but no bite" Hikari added.

"Oh dear" the Organization member said.

"I think you got the wrong impression"

"You gonna cry?" Hikari said mockingly.

"As if" the Organization member said.

"Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?"

Hikari just glared at him.

"And why don't we remind you how tough the crowd YOU'RE dealing with is?" she said.

"We'll wipe the floor with you!"

Sora glared at the member.

The Organization member just laughed at them.

"That's RIGHT, they used to give me that same look" he said.

"And she would spout such witty remarks as well"

Sora scoffed.

"I guess you think you can psych us out by saying really random stuff" he said.

The Organization member tilted his head.

"Gee…I just don't know" he said.

He opened a portal and waved at them.

"You be good now" he said.

With that, he disappeared.

"That was weird" Sora said.

Hikari nodded.

"I'll say" she said.

"WHO gave him the same look?"

"Y'know, I think he was trying to confuse ya'" Goofy said.

"Yeah, you're right" Sora said.

"There's only one of us" Hikari added.

Leon came up to them to see if they were alright, or rather, if Hikari was alright.

She playfully pushed him away.

"I'm fine, Ni-san" she said.

"I've been through worse"

Sora held up a membership card that Aerith gave them.

"The Hollow Bastion Committee Honorary Member-"

Just then, the card glowed and hovered in front of everyone.

Sora and Hikari's keyblades reacted to it and glowed slightly.

"What's this?" Leon asked.

"Gawrsh, ya think…?" Goofy asked.

Sora and Hikari knew what this was.

It was the keyhole to Hollow Bastion.

They aimed their keyblades at the keyhole the card created and sealed Hollow Bastion.

"Oh…Now I get it" Sora said.

"That must've been the gate Yen Sid was talking about" Hikari said.

"Oh boy!" Donald said.

Sora and Hikari looked at Leon.

"Sorry to run, Leon" Sora said.

"But other worlds are calling"

Leon nodded in understanding.

Hikari went up to him and gave him a big hug.

"We'll be back, we promise" she said.

Leon hugged her tightly.

"Be safe" he said.

When they let go, Leon gave Sora a serious look while propping his Gunblade on his shoulder.

"Remember, Sora" he said.

"If you let anything happen to my sister"

He ran a finger across his throat to show the consequences.

Sora laughed nervously.

"Don't worry. She's safe with us" he said.

Leon nodded.

"Good"

With that, they waved goodbye before heading out to the Gummi Ship.

/

**A/N: So Hikari got to see her older brother again. I just find those moments to be too cute. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Also, please vote on my poll.**

**JA ne**


	7. Land of Dragons

Chapter 7: Land of Dragons

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so glad you all liked the sibling bond between Hikari and Leon. I always thought protective older brothers were cool. **

**I also have some exciting news! Since I finally figured out how to put pictures on my Deviant Art account, I can finally post pictures of Hikari! I already have one of her pics up, so if you want to see her, feel free to. I'll have more of her up.**

**Also, could you please vote on my poll? I need to figure out which song would fit Hikari's theme.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The group made it back to the Gummi ship and went to their seats.

"Sorry about Ni-san, Sora" Hikari said.

"He can be a little overprotective"

Sora just chuckle and sat in his seat.

"It's ok" he said.

"It just shows how much you mean to him"

Hikari smiled as she sat in her seat.

"That is true" she said.

"Back when I lived on Hollow Bastion, he acted more like a father to me than he did as a brother. He was the only parental figure I had when we got separated from my mom"

She smiled vanished as she thought of something.

"Now that I think about it…I don't even remember my dad, or if I had one for that matter"

She rubbed her forehead in frustration.

"Losing your memories really suck" she said.

Goofy patted her on the shoulder.

"Cheer up, Hikari" he said.

"You're still regaining your memories. Why, I'll bet that you'll remember your dad while we're on this journey"

Hikari smiled softly at him.

"Thanks, Goofy" she said.

Donald started up the ship and looked at the monitor.

He made a face when he read something.

"What the? Twilight Town in gone" he said

Sora peered over his shoulder to look at the monitor as well.

"It's probably out of radar or something" he said.

"It's nothing to worry about"

Donald just shrugged and pulled the ship out of Hollow Bastion.

"We're off to save the worlds!" he cried.

Hikari just giggled at her seat.

She pulled out the drawing of her and Riku.

She smiled when she saw his face.

Just thinking about him brought back memories that she thought were precious.

/

_Flash back: 8 years ago._

_Hikari sat on her bed in the room the mayor provided._

_Since no one would adopt her, he took it upon himself to look after her just like he did with Kairi._

_It was nighttime on the islands, but that didn't stop Hikari from staying up late._

_She couldn't sleep, even if she wanted to._

_Earlier that day, she got hurt by trying to climb up one of the coconut trees and landed on her arm the wrong way when she fell down._

_The whole right side of her arm was wrapped up in a cast._

_It hurt a lot and it made sleeping uncomfortable._

_She sighed as she looked around her room._

_Since she was afraid of the dark, she had to have two or three nightlights on._

_She knew that was a bit babyish, but it helped her sleep._

_Just as she was about to turn over on her bed, a paper airplane flew through her open window._

_She looked at it for a moment before looking out the window._

_Riku popped his head in and smiled._

"_Hey, Hikari!" he said happily._

_Hikari jumped a little and smacked her injured arm._

_She winched slightly and saw Riku swing himself into her room._

_He held something to his side as he smiled at her._

"_I brought something to cheer you up" he said._

_The two of them made a small fort out of her bed sheets and had a flash light inside._

_Riku hid what he had with behind him._

_He looked around seriously for a moment, as if trying to hear in anyone was near._

_When made sure no one was, he looked at Hikari._

"_I am about to see something that I have never shown to another human being, not even to Sora or Kairi" he said._

_Hikari's eyes widen a bit._

_He was going to show her something that not even Sora or Kairi knew? _

_This had to be big._

_Riku still looked serious._

"_You'll have to swear that you will not tell anyone" he said._

_Hikari nodded and did the 'cross-your-heart' motion._

_Riku smiled and pulled out a giant scrapbook._

"_My Adventure Book" he said._

_He put it on the floor and opened it up to show a few pictures._

"_These are all of the worlds I want to go to when I'm older" he said._

"_Since you and Kairi came from a different world, then that means there are others worlds too"_

_He turned the page to show images of different places._

"_There could be different kinds of worlds" Riku said._

"_Some could be jungle like worlds, others could be underwater. I bet there are worlds that have giant castles"_

_Hikari marveled at all of the images she saw._

_She always knew she was from a different world, but she didn't know which one she was from._

_Maybe it was one of these worlds?_

_Riku smiled at her expression._

"_I ripped this right out of a library book"_

_Hikari gasped at the thought of Riku doing something like that._

_Riku just chuckled and turned the page._

"_I'm going to go to all of these places when I'm older" he said._

_He turned to a page titled 'Things I'll Do"._

"_As for the rest of these pages, well, these are saved for what I'll do on those worlds"_

_He frowned slightly._

"_Problem is, I don't know how I'm going to get there"_

_Hikari frowned as well._

_That was a problem._

_She looked out of the corner of her eye and spotted a little toy boat the mayor's wife used to decorate her room._

_Riku saw this as well and smiled._

"_That's it!" he said._

"_We can go on a boat!"_

_He jabbed a finger at her._

"_Say you'll go! Cross your heart!"_

_Hikari nodded and crossed it._

_Riku smiled._

"_Good, you swore. No backing out" he said._

_Hikari shook her head._

_Riku closed up his adventure book._

"_Well, it's getting late" he said._

"_See you tomorrow, Hikari"_

_He jumped out her window._

_He was about to leave, but he popped his head back in._

"_You know, you don't really talk much" he said._

_He grinned._

"_I like you!"_

_With that, he headed back to his house._

_Hikari stood near her windowsill and smiled at Riku._

/

Hikari smiled contently.

That was one of the few things she knew about Riku that the others didn't.

He trusted her enough that he was willing to show her his most prized possession.

Her frowned faltered as she thought about that adventure book.

"_After our world was destroyed, he never got to fill up that adventure book" _she thought.

She suddenly grew determined.

"_Once we all return to the islands, I'll take Riku to all of the worlds that I've seen. I'll keep my end of the promise"_

When Donald landed on their next world, she mentally made a list of all the places that she wanted to show Riku.

/

Of near the rural areas of China, a small village was being burnt to the ground.

A Hun warrior stood in the middle of it, admiring the work he had done.

His pet hawk was perched on his shoulder .

The Hun grinned menacingly at his work before leaving.

/

A little ways off from the burnt village, a lone soldier peered at the destruction that was being done through the opening of the bamboo trees.

Next to the soldier, a menacing dragon stood nearby.

You couldn't see the dragon, but the shadow is cast made him look dark and scary.

He looked at the village being burnt as well.

"See that, Mulan?" he asked.

"It's Shan-Yu, leader of the Hun army!"

He grinned in thought.

"C'mon, girl. This is your big chance!" he said.

"I can see it now:' Fa Mulan whups public enemy number one!' you gonna be famous! I'm talking A-list!"

It turns out the soldier was not a boy, but rather a girl.

She was dressed up in a soldier uniform and had her hair tied up as a boy.

She looked the part, but her voice was a dead giveaway.

She sighed at her dragon companion.

"Mushu, I'm not sure…" she said.

"I haven't even joined the army yet. I have to take my father's place to preserve the Fa family honor. I just hope I don't get discovered"

Mushu just scoffed.

"Whatever" he said.

"You just scared-admit it"

Mulan looked at him sheepishly.

"Aren't you?" she asked.

Mushu just hung his head and held the bridge of his nose.

He had a lot of work to do.

/

Back with our heroes, they walked through the same bamboo forest that Mulan was at.

"This places seemed pretty isolate" Hikari said.

Sora nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I don't see any towns or anything"

As they were walking, Goofy caught sight of Mulan looking frightened at the dragon's shadow.

It looked like the dragon was scaring her, but she was actually afraid of joining the army.

The rest saw this and panicked.

"A heartless?" Donald asked.

Sora nodded.

"Let's get the jump on 'im" he said.

Goofy looked skeptical.

"Gawrsh, maybe we better look before we leap" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"I agree. Let's study the situation before we do anything stupid"

Of course, Sora and Donald didn't listen and charged at the shadow.

Mulan and Mushu thought they were going to attack them.

Hikari noticed a familiar red dragon jump in Mulan's arms before they cowered in fear.

Goofy noticed it too.

"Is that Mushu?" he asked.

Of course Hikari would notice the little dragon.

He was one of her summoning allies from their first journey.

The red dragon poked his head out.

"That's right, I know you heard of me!" he said.

"I'm little, lethal and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!"

Sora and the others smiled when they saw one of their old companions.

"Hey. Mushu! We missed you!" Sora said.

Mushu scoffed.

"Well you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else you're-"

He stopped when he saw the familiar faces.

His face lit up.

"Sora!, Hikari!, Donald!, Goofy!"

He jumped out of Mulan's arms and walked towards them.

Mulan looked confused.

"Do you know them?" she asked.

Mushu scoffed.

"KNOW them?" he asked.

"Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together!. Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tight spots. 'Cause, I'm a mighty dragon, right?"

Hikari giggled.

"Something like that" she said.

The group looked at Mulan.

"And…you are?"

Mulan stood up.

"I'm Mulan" she said.

She quickly realized she was talking like a girl and quickly made her voice deeper.

"Um, no, I-I mean…"

"Ping!" Mushu said.

Donald raised an eyebrow.

"Mulan Ping?" he asked.

Mulan shook her head.

"Just…Ping" she said.

"I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou"

Hikari wore a know it all smirk.

She knew right away that 'Ping' was actually a girl.

Her features were a dead giveaway, even if she dressed like a boy.

'Ping' looked at the group.

"You know Mushu?" Sora asked.

"Mushu's one of my family's guardians" 'Ping' said.

Goofy looked surprised.

"We didn't know we borrowing somebody as important as a family guardian" he said.

Mushu suddenly came up with an idea.

Since Mulan was freaking out over joining the army on her own, he would just have her join in a group.

"Yeah, that's right!" he said.

He jumped on 'Ping's' shoulder.

"And that puts you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here" he said.

"Well, guess what kiddies? It's payback time!"

Ping scowled at the dragon.

"Mushu!"

Mushu waved her off.

"Ah, they don't mind. Ain't that right?"

Sora smiled.

"Hmmm. Sounds fair" he said.

Mushu grinned.

"See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial Army" Mushu said.

"We gotta go find the other recruits over at the training camp"

'Ping' looked at them hopefully.

"Would you join us?" 'he' asked.

"It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you"

Hikari smiled.

"You're right" she said.

"It would be easier to fit in with GUYS like us…if you were one of them"

Sora looked confused.

"What do you mean, 'fit in'?" he asked.

Goofy smirked.

"You're pretending to be a boy, aren't you?" he asked.

So it seemed the Goofy knew all along too.

Sora and Donald looked surprised.

"You're a girl!" Sora cried.

Mulan blushed a little.

"You didn't notice?" she asked.

Sora and Donald shook their heads.

"Not me" Sora said.

Hikari shrugged.

"I knew all along" she said.

"It takes one to know one 

Mulan looked at Mushu.

"I think it's working" she said.

Mushu didn't look impressed.

"I don't know" he said.

"Those two would fall for anything"

Sora glared at him.

"I'm right here, you know"

Mushu waved him off.

"Besides, you're the least of our worries now" he said.

"Since Hikari is in the group, this is going to cause some problems"

Hikari glared at him.

"What is that suppose to mean?" she asked.

"The Imperial Army only recruits males" Mushu said.

"Since you look way to feminine, there's no way we can disguise you as a boy like Mulan"

Hikari looked at herself.

She had to admit, that she did fill out since she woke up.

She wasn't as flat chested as she was before, and her face looked way to girly.

She kicked at the ground.

"Why do guys always think that girls can't fight?" she asked.

"I've done my fair share of fighting! I should earn some recognition!"

Mushu shrugged.

"Sorry, that's the way this world works" he said.

Hikari growled and zapped a group of bamboo trees with a thunder spell.

Goofy suddenly came up with an idea.

"Wait! I got it!" he said.

He looked at Mushu.

"This world is really connected to spiritual stuff like guardians and the gods, right?"

The dragon nodded.

"Well, why don't we convince the army that Hikari is a sorceress that was sent by the gods to help win the war? There's no way they would cast away someone that the gods chose"

Hikari's face lit up.

"Goofy! You're a genius!"

She hugged the dog tightly.

"Anything to help a friend in need" he said.

Hikari looked at the others.

"Do you agree with it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Like we would exclude you from an adventure" Sora said.

The group headed out for the camp in hopes that they would get in.

/

When they made it to the campsite, there was a line of soldiers waiting for something.

Sora went to get in line, but a small, gruffy soldier in red cut in front of him.

"'Bout time we got some grub" he said.

Sora glared at him.

"Hey, no cutting!" he said.

The guy turned around and slugged him in the face.

Donald took offence to that and attacked the guy by jumping on him.

The two tussled while the others watched.

Hikari held the bridge of her nose.

Just then, two more soldiers appeared.

One was a skinny guy in yellow, while the other was a huge one in blue.

"Hey, a space in line!" the yellow one shouted.

He went to get in line, but the blue one shoved in between them.

"Wonder what they're serving for lunch today?" he asked.

"Knuckle sandwiches!" the red one cried.

He started attacking the yellow soldier while Donald jumped on him.

Sora jumped into the fray and started attacking as well.

Everyone but the blue soldier was fighting.

Goofy looked at Hikari.

"Should we break them up?" he asked.

Hikari sighed.

"I always have to do everything around here" she said.

She stormed over towards the fray and broke up the fight.

She grabbed Sora and Donald by the back of their shirts and bashed their heads together.

After she dealt with her friends, she kicked the red soldier while she punched the yellow one in the face.

"Knock it off!" she cried.

"You're supposed to be men, not children!"

Everyone gave her mixed reactions.

Sora and Donald winched and rubbed their faces.

The soldiers looked at her with disgust.

"A girl?"

"What's a girl doing here?"

Hikari glared at them and placed her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I'm a girl, and I also knocked off your feet. Get used to it" she said.

The red soldier glared at her.

"Girls aren't supposed to be here" he said.

Hikari growled.

This guy was really getting on her nerves.

Sora saw this and quickly went into their plan.

"You shouldn't be talking to her like that" he said.

Goofy nodded.

"Yeah, she's a sorceress that was summoned by the gods to help win the war. If you get her angry, bad things will happen"

Just then, heartless showed up around the camp.

Hikari looked at her hands in confusion.

"I didn't do that" she said.

'Ping' pulled out 'his' sword and looked around.

"What are they?" 'He' asked.

Sora and the others summoned their weapons.

"Heartless" Sora said.

"Ping! I hope you're ready" Hikari said.

They all attacked the heartless that raided the camp.

'Ping' wasn't really having really good luck.

Whenever 'he' tried to attack a heartless, 'he' would fall flat on 'his' face.

It was evident that 'he' never used a sword in 'his' entire life.

Hikari destroyed the heartless with her magic.

If she wanted to prove to everyone in the camp that she was a sorceress, then she would have to go along with it.

Plus, she needed to make sure her magic skills were at its finest.

When the heartless were gone, the captain of the camp came towards the group.

He looked at Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"What are your names?" he asked.

They all told him their names.

The Captain nodded.

"You're in my troop" he said.

He looked at Hikari.

She gave him a scowl.

"If you're going to tell me that I can't join, then I'll zap you" she said.

The Captain just gave her a smirk.

"So you were sent by the gods to help us win?" he asked.

"I guess after seeing you fight, then it must be true. You're welcome to join"

Hikari wore a proud smirk on her face.

"Good, otherwise I would have cursed you all" she said.

Donald just rolled his eyes.

'Ping' cleared 'his' throat.

"I am the son of Fa Zho-"

The Captain interrupted.

"You should return home" he said.

'Ping' looked at him horrified.

"B-but…that would dishonor my family!" 'He' said.

"Would you rather dishonor my troops?" the captain replied.

'Ping' glared at him.

"Don't make me-!'

'He' stopped when 'he' realized it wouldn't do 'him' any good.

Sora and the others looked at their comrade sadly.

They promised Mushu that they would help out.

They couldn't let it end this way.

"If Ping trains harder, he'll get stronger in no time" Sora said.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. You'll need all the help that you can get if you want to win this war"

The Captain mulled this over.

"Very well" he said.

"I'll give you a few tests to see how well he can do. If he doesn't pass them, then he can't join"

The group nodded.

"That's all we need" Hikari said.

They went out to do the tasks that the captain gave them.

/

The Captain, which they found out was named Li, told them to scout the area for any traces of Shan-Yu and his army.

They searched around the campsite and near the place that lead up to the mountains.

While they were searching, they showed 'Ping' how to fight heartless properly and being able to stand on 'his' feet.

When they finished the tasks, they went back to Shang to see if he would let 'Ping' in.

Li nodded in approval.

"You did well" he said.

Sora pumped his fist.

"I knew it!" he said.

'Ping' looked at Shang.

"Captain…"

Li looked at 'him'.

"I suppose you made a little progress…" he said.

"Not a little-a lot!" Hikari said.

"Just let him in already! We're wasting time as it is just staying here"

Shang nodded.

"Very well. You can prove yourself by clearing the path up to the mountains"

Everyone nodded.

"Sir!"

Everyone left the campsite to head out to their next location.

/

The way up to the mountains summit was blocked off by large boulders.

If they wanted to get up to the mountains, then they had to get rid of the rocks, as well as the heartless that dwelled around here.

This moment was crucial to 'Ping'.

If 'he' was able to pull this off, then Captain Shang would consider 'him' to be part of the army.

Sora and Hikari said they would take care of the heartless while 'Ping' took care of clearing the pathway.

They wanted their comrade to look good in front of the captain.

When they reached up to the summit, they stopped to wait for the rest of the troops.

The three soldiers that they fought with earlier came up to them.

"Hey, you ain't half bad" the one in red said.

"A man among men!" the yellow one added.

'Ping' looked relieved.

"Thanks" 'He' said.

They walked off, leaving our heroes behind.

'Ping' looked at the ground.

"But the captain…." 'He' said.

Just then, Captain Shang came up to them.

"Ping sure did great!" Goofy said.

Everyone was trying to convince Shang to change his mind.

"Hmmm….Fine. I'll let you in my troops" he said.

"But I'm still not convinced you have what it take to be a soldier"

Sora looked angry.

"Why not?" he asked.

'Ping' looked at him.

"It's alright, Sora" 'He' said.

"I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of"

Shang smirked.

"That's the spirit, Ping" he said.

With that, they all headed up to the village that dwelled within the mountains.

/

While the camp was settling in and making sure everyone was evacuating the village, Mushu appeared to the group.

He looked up at Mulan with a big toothy grin.

"Okay, Girl! Here's your chance!" he said.

"I just saw this real shady guy. And I know it's Shan-Yu!"

Everyone panicked.

"Shan-Yu?" Mulan asked.

"That's the Hun leader!" Hikari said.

Mushu nodded.

"We've got to tell the captain"

Mushu waved his little arms in front of him.

"Waaaait-wait-wait-WAIT!" he said.

"Everybody use their head a sec. Now why are we here? To make sure Mulan-I mean, Ping's talents bring honor to her family"

Everyone nodded.

"So, let's go find out where Shan-Yu is by ourselves" Mushu said.

"Then, if we're lucky, we can fry him up good! Though tracking the guy down should earn us our stars…Captain musclehead will have to notice my girl!"

Everyone looked at Mulan.

This was all up to her.

She had a determined look on her face.

"Ok. Let's do it" she said.

"We'll help out" Sora said.

"Now we're cookin'!" Mushu said.

"Shan-Yu is in a cave outside the village!"

Everyone nodded.

"Then let's do this" Sora said.

They headed towards the small cave that was located right outside of the village.

/

There really wasn't much to the cave when they got inside.

There were a few candles and a little shrine monument for those who passed on to the next life.

But other than that, it looked like an ordinary cave.

They searched the whole area for any traces of Shan-Yu, but they came up empty handed.

"Looks like it's a dead end here" Hikari said.

Donald nodded.

"Nobody is here" he said.

Mushu shook his head.

"You're crazy! Check again!" he said.

Donald and Goofy started walking towards the entrance of the cave.

Just when the others were about to join them, the area started to shake.

"What's going on?" 'Ping' said.

Donald and Goofy were about to run back to them, but a barrier blocked them.

"Sora!" Donald cried.

"Hikari!" Goofy added.

Little did they know that Shan-Yu was behind all of this.

He grinned darkly before heading out of the cave.

He could let his minions finish up the work.

Sora, Hikari, and 'Ping' looked around the area to see if there was a way to break out of the barrier, but they were surrounded by heartless.

Everyone pulled out their weapons and pointed them at the vile creatures.

"Get ready, Ping" Hikari said.

"This is your moment to shine"

'Ping' nodded and gripped 'his' sword tightly.

Sora and Hikari took on the much harder heartless while 'Ping' took on the weaker ones.

They noticed that 'Ping' fought a lot better than when 'he' did at the camp.

It seemed that training paid off.

They all stood back to back when they were faced off with one more heartless.

This one was one of the tougher ones and took the shape of a samurai riding a horse.

"This is the last one" Sora said.

"Let's finish it before it steals anymore hearts"

Hikari and 'Ping' nodded.

They dodged the heartless' attacks and aimed for its weak spot.

Since it had the body of a horse, that meant its legs were its weak spot.

Hikari swung her keyblade at them and tripped the heartless while Sora kicked its weapon out of its hand.

"Ping! Finish it!"

'Ping' raised 'his' sword and stabbed the heartless in the head.

When its heart floated away, the barrier disappeared.

Donald and Goofy ran towards them.

"You okay?" Goofy asked.

Everyone nodded.

"We are, thanks to Ping" Hikari said.

Mushu appeared on 'Ping's' shoulder.

"C'mon! Time to report to the Captain!" he said.

Everyone looked at him.

"But Shan-Yu wasn't here" they pointed out.

"Please! That Hun is old news!" Mushu said.

"We're gonna tell the captain how thousands of heartless stormed into the cave, and Ping took out almost every one of them!"

They all headed out of the camp, hoping to share their good news with captain Shang, but that all changed when they stepped foot into the village.

/

The whole village was burnt to the ground when they arrived there.

All that remained of the houses were the skeletal forms.

Everyone looked around horrified.

How could this happen?

They were only gone for a couple of minutes.

They walk through what was left of the town and found Shang leaning against one of the buildings.

"Captain!"

They all rushed to him as he struggled to stand up.

He held his side in pain.

"Don't overdo it, Capitan!" Sora said.

"It's just a scratch" Shang protested.

Hikari held out her hand and healed his wounds with a cure spell.

"There. Now it won't get infected" she said.

Shang weakly smiled.

"I guess it was good that you were summoned here by the gods" he said.

Hikari chuckled weakly.

'Ping' looked at Shang.

"Captain, the enemy" 'He' said.

"Where did they go?"

"They headed towards the summit…" Shang said.

'Ping' looked determined.

"We'll stop them!" 'He' said.

Goofy nodded sadly.

"It kinda is our fault" he said.

Mushu shook his head.

"You mean MY fault" he said.

Hikari shook her head.

"Shan-Yu and the heartless did this, not us" she said.

Sora knelt in front of Li.

"Captain, if you track down the villagers, we'll handle this" he said.

They all looked at the remains of the village before looking towards the summit.

"Let's go" Sora said.

They all ran up towards the mountains summit to stop Shan-Yu before he did anything worse.

/

The top of the summit was really cold.

The wind would send chills down everyone's spines and the snow would get in their shoes.

Since Hikari hardly wore anything, she got the full brunt of it.

She resisted the urge to rub her arms to try to warm herself.

She still had to act like she was a sorceress that was sent by the gods.

She had to prove to everyone in the army that the weather didn't affect her.

She just thought about the islands and the warm sun hitting the sand.

She smiled sadly.

Even though Hollow Bastion was her home world, she still felt home sick for the islands.

She missed the little island that everyone would hang out.

She missed the smell of the ocean.

She missed the sound of everyone laughing as they played.

She missed the paopu fruit trees.

She missed the glorious sunsets that everyone watched at the end of the day.

What made this feeling even worse is that she couldn't return to the islands until she finished her quest.

She looked at the snow that covered her boots.

This was the first time that she actually saw snow so up close.

She bent down and pick up a handful of the white, fluffy substance and examined it.

Sora gave her a strange look.

"Hikari?" he asked.

She didn't listen to him.

She just watched as the snow melted in her hand.

The cold liquid dripped from her fingers and landed back on the ground.

She smiled weakly.

"This is the first time that I actually touched snow" she said.

She looked at Sora.

"I wonder what Kairi would say if we told her about this place"

Sora gave her a weak smile.

He understood her depressed mood.

He felt it too.

He went up to her and gripped her shoulder.

"I doubt she would believe us" he admitted.

"But maybe if we took her here, then she would"

Hikari smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like a plan"

She dropped the snow and wiped her hands.

"We should go" she said.

"Who knows what Shan-Yu will do next?"

Sora nodded.

"Right"

They continued up towards the top of the mountain.

/

When they got to an opening on the summit, they searched the whole area for Shan-Yu.

The area was a completely barren waste land.

Not a single soul was in sight.

But that all changed when a menacing looking hawk flew over their heads.

It soared towards the ledge of the mountain where none other than Shan-Yu was at.

He grinned darkly at the keyblade masters and their friends.

An army of heartless appeared behind him.

Everyone summoned their weapons.

"Our work is never done!" Hikari said.

Shan-Yu pointed towards the heroes.

"Attack!" he cried.

The heartless dove down the ledge and headed towards our heroes.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"Come on, Hikari. Let's show these heartless what happens when you mess with a keyblade master" he said.

Hikari smirked darkly.

"I'm way ahead of you" she said.

She transformed into her Valor form and gripped her keyblades tightly.

"Let's even the odds, shall we?"

They all split up and ran into the fray of heartless.

Hikari was surrounded by a group of heartless in a manner of minutes.

She smirked darkly.

"Why don't we heat things up a bit?"

She cast a combo spell by shooting fire out of her main keyblade and had thunder zap from her Oblivion keyblade.

She cart wheeled out of the way when one of them tried to attack her and just hacked at them mercilessly.

When the heartless were destroyed, they looked back at to where Shan-Yu was.

The Hun leader summoned up another batch of heartless.

Instead of sending them off on their own, he drew out his sword and ran down the mountain.

The heartless followed after him.

Everyone didn't know what to do.

There was no way that they could defeat and army of heartless and a Hun leader at the same time.

Just then, Ling, Yao, and Chien Po came with a giant cannon.

"Stand back!" Yao said.

"We'll handle this!" Ling said.

Yao aimed the cannon towards Shan-Yu's body.

'Ping' looked at 'his' sword and saw the mountains reflection on it.

An idea suddenly struck 'him'.

"Sorry!"

'He' took the cannon from Yao and aimed it at the mountains.

When it was secured, 'he' started looking for something that would ignite the cannon.

When 'he' spotted Mushu, 'he' quickly grabbed him and used him to set the cannon off.

The poor dragon was stuck on it when it lit off.

"You're going to wrong way!" he cried.

When it hit the mountain, the snow that covered it broke loose and came crashing down.

'Ping' pumped 'his' fist.

"Yes!"

Sora looked over his shoulder to see Captain Shang heading towards them.

"Captain!"

'Ping' panicked when 'he' saw that they were all in the area where the avalanche would head to.

"Look out!"

The snow came over the ledge and buried Shan-Yu and his army.

'Ping' grabbed Shang's arm and dragged him to safety.

Everyone ran behind a ledge and pressed themselves against it.

Sora held Hikari close to him and had his back facing the snow so it wouldn't hit her.

Hikari gripped onto the Donald, while he gripped onto to Goofy.

They all held onto each other so they wouldn't get lost to the snow.

When the avalanche subsided, everyone slowly walked out into the open.

Shang looked at 'Ping'.

"Thanks, Ping" Shang said.

'Ping' just shook 'his' head.

"It was nothing"

They both stood up and brushed the snow off of them.

"I should never have doubted you" Shang said.

"From now on, you have my trust"

'Ping' looked relieved.

"Thank you, captain"

Everything would have gone fine if Mushu didn't pop up.

The poor dragon pulled himself out of the snow and went over to his master.

He was so caught up in his misery that blew Mulan's cover.

"First she uses me as a lighter, then she turns me into a cannon ball. The head ancestor's gonna hear about this" he said.

"You know, that's it! I quit! I can't take this no more"

He looked at Mulan.

"C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl"

Mulan paled.

"Mushu!" she hissed.

Mushu quickly covered his mouth when he realized what he said.

Shang glared at her.

"Mulan?" he asked.

"A woman? It can't be!"

When Mulan didn't say anything, he got his answer.

Sora and the others ran up to them.

"Ping! Captain!"

Shang glared at them.

"You all knew, didn't you?" he said.

"You knew Ping was really a woman in disguise"

Everyone looked away nervously.

Shang looked back at Mulan.

"I can't believe you lied to me" he said.

He started walking away.

He stopped when his back was to her.

"The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the army…is death" he said.

Everyone paled.

Was he really going to kill Mulan over this?

Mulan looked at him nervously.

Shang just glared at her from the corner of his eye.

"Get out of my sight…now" he said.

"You're all dismissed"

He scoffed at Hikari.

"Summoned by the gods. What a joke"

Hikari gave him a dull glare.

"The next time you get hurt, I won't heal you" she said.

Sora shushed her.

Shang and the rest of the army walked away and headed off the mountain.

"The Emperor is waiting!" Shang shouted.

"Move out!"

They headed towards the capital to tell the news about Shan-Yu.

When they left, Sora and the others slowly went over to Mulan.

Mushu looked at her sadly.

"Mulan…I blew it" he said.

She just shook her head and removed her father's armor.

When she let her hair down, she looked more like a woman.

She smiled sadly at her friends.

"Thank you, everyone" she said.

"Sorry I got you in trouble"

Sora smirked.

"It's no big deal" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, it was fun pretending to be someone very important" she added.

Sora rubbed his head.

"So Ping…I mean, Mulan…what're you going to do?" he asked.

Mulan smiled sadly.

"Go back home" she said.

Mushu sighed.

"Your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling" he warned.

Sora and Hikari grabbed Donald and Goofy and held them tightly.

"Relax, we'll take our share of the blame" Sora said.

Mulan smiled.

"Thanks" she said.

"You're all wonderful friends"

They all started walking down the mountains slope so they could get out of this freezing weather.

/

As they were walking down the slope, they failed to notice that Shan-Yu's eagle was flying over them.

It flew over where its master was buried and let out a great cry.

A hand shot out of the snow.

Shan-Yu pulled himself out of the snow and looked around him.

He growled in frustration and let out a cry.

The group heard this and peered over the edge to see Shan-Yu summon up a heartless army.

Mulan paled.

"Shan-Yu?" she cried.

"He's alive?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head in disbelief.

"There's no way someone could have survived that" she said.

They watched at Shan-Yu headed towards the Imperial City.

Mulan looked at the group.

"We've got to warn Shang!" she said.

They quickly ran down the mountain and headed for the Imperial City.

/As they were heading down the mountain, the group noticed that Mulan was a much better fighter than she was when she was Ping.

It seemed that she was trying to hide her real skills when she was a soldier.

She would do these combo attacks with Mushu and would burn the heartless to smithereens.

"At least I'm not the only girl fighting here" Hikari said.

They made to the checkpoint and looked at the road that lead to the Imperial City.

"I hope we make it" Sora said.

They ran through the gates headed for the City.

/

When they got there, they saw Shang and his army headed for the Emperor's palace.

It seemed that they just arrived here as well, which meant that there was still time.

Mulan ran towards him.

"Shang!" she cried.

The captain gave her a dark look, but she ignored it.

"Shan-Yu is alive!" she cried.

"He's headed this way!"

Shang scoffed.

"And why should I believe you this time?" he asked.

Sora and Hikari glared at him.

He could really hold a grudge.

"But she's telling the truth!" Sora said.

"Yeah, we saw him too!" Hikari added.

To prove her point, Shan-Yu's eagle soared over their heads.

Shang saw this and searched the area.

He spotted Shan-Yu standing on one of the roofs of the palace.

Shang panicked and looked at his army.

"Guard the palace!" he cried.

"Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!"

Yao, Ling, and Chien Po ran towards the building.

The rest of the soldiers suddenly turned into heartless.

Shang didn't know what to do, but Mulan and the others pulled out their weapons.

"We'll secure the courtyard, and you save the Emperor" Sora said.

Shang looked unsure of what to do to, but Donald settled it for him.

"That's an order!" he said.

Shang nodded and ran towards the palace.

The group looked at the heartless that were in front of them.

They all separated and took out the ones that were closer to them.

Hikari zapped her bunch with a few spells.

She wanted to save her strength for when they fought Shan-Yu.

She knew she was going to need it.

When the heartless were gone, they ran towards the palace.

They ran up the steps just as Shan-Yu held his sword up the Emperor's throat.

"Now you'll bow to me" he said.

The Emperor didn't say anything.

He wasn't going to give Shan-Yu the satisfaction he wanted.

Shang suddenly appeared and knocked Shan-Yu back.

He quickly ushered the Emperor inside the palace while Ling and Chien Po closed the doors.

Shan-Yu growled and charged at the door, but the group stopped him.

"It ends now!" Mulan said.

"Right now!" Sora added.

Shan-Yu just laughed evilly as darkness seeped out of him.

He summoned up a few heartless to help him out in breaking the door.

Hikari created a barrier over the palace doors so the heartless wouldn't get through.

She wasn't going to take her chances.

Both she and Sora went into their Valor forms.

They wanted to end this as quickly as possible.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"I'll take care of the heartless; you take care of Shan-Yu"

Sora nodded and gripped his keyblades tightly.

"Be careful"

Hikari nodded and jumped out of the way.

She flipped through the air and landed right in front of the heartless.

"Sorry, but you're not getting through" she said.

She twirled her keyblades around with precision and sliced through the heartless with ease.

Some would try to get past her in order to break the barrier, but she would zap them with her magic.

When the heartless were gone, she went to help Sora and the others fight Shan-Yu.

She ran towards them, but something nicked her on the back of the head.

She looked up to see Shan-Yu's eagle flying around the area.

She glared at the bird, then looked at Donald.

"Donald!"

The magician ran up to her.

"I think it's time we had a little barbeque"

She pointed towards the eagle to show him where to aim.

Donald nodded and held up his staff.

"One roasted chicken, coming right up!"

They both pointed their weapons at the bird.

"Fire!"

Fire blasted out of their weapons and hit the bird dead on.

The poor thing was burnt to a crisp.

Hikari pumped her fist and ran to help Sora out.

The keyblade master and Mulan were doing fine on their own, but it was difficult to fight him, while trying to keep the barrier up.

Hikari ran up to them.

"Sora!"

Sora looked at her to see her motion to do attack Shan-Yu in the front while she attacked the back.

He nodded and made sure Shan-Yu wouldn't look behind him.

The Hun leader glared at Sora and raised his sword.

"You're finished!" he cried.

Sora smirked.

"Think again" he said.

He and Hikari ran at him and slammed their keyblades right into him.

Shan-Yu staggered when they pulled them out.

He held his side as he glared at them.

He went to attack them again, but he fell to the ground and faded to the darkness.

/

When the battle was over, Hikari removed the barrier.

When she did, she suddenly felt a searing pain within her chest.

She flinched and grabbed her chest in pain.

Sora looked at her.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari grimaced and nodded.

"Yeah" she said.

"It's nothing"

When the pain died down, she let her hand fall down to her side.

Where in the world did that pain come from?

She knew it couldn't have been from the fight, so what triggered it?

She didn't have time to mull it over because Mushu started cheering.

"Now that's what I call burning some hunny-bun!" he said.

"Aw, yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best! No, wait a minute-I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!"

Sora and Hikari rolled their eyes.

Typical Mushu.

Shang and the Emperor came towards them.

The Emperor looked at regal as ever when he looked at Mulan.

"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan" he said.

"Mulan looked at him sadly before bowing to him.

The Emperor kept talking.

"You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier:

Mulan looked away sadly.

"You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name"

Sora and Hikari rubbed their heads nervously.

This Emperor liked to rub it in.

"We get the picture" Sora said.

The Emperor ignored them.

"You're a young woman" he said.

"And in the end…you have saved us all"

With that, he bowed to her.

Mulan panicked and blushed profusely.

Cheers erupted through the palace.

Hikari smiled at Mulan.

"Looks like you're a hero now" she said.

Mulan smiled brightly.

Shang held out Shan-Yu sword and gave it to Mulan.

"Take this, so the world will know what you did for China" The Emperor said.

Sang nodded.

"Thank you, everyone" he said.

The Emperor chuckled.

"Thank you?" he repeated.

"Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that"

Shang blushed profusely.

Hikari chuckled at the sight.

Mushu pumped his fist.

"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian!" he said.

"They GOTTA!"

Goofy looked at him.

"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family guardian?"

Mushu laughed nervously, realizing he let out his secret.

"What, oh, no, no , no- don't even worry about that, that's just real technical. Just for us guardians" he said.

Sora and Hikari glared at him.

"You ticked us!" Sora cried.

"And after everything we did for you!" Hikari said.

Mushu laughed nervously before running off.

Sora and Hikari chased after him.

Just as they were about to clobber him, Shan-Yu's sword started to glow and floated to the air.

Sora and Hikari knew what this meant.

This was the keyhole.

They summoned their keyblades and sealed the keyhole to this world.

That was one less world they needed to worry about saving.

"Guess it's about time we get moving" Goofy said.

"You shall be missed" the Emperor said.

Sora looked at Mulan.

"Is if okay if we come back to visit?"

Mulan nodded.

"Of course" she said.

"We look forward to your return" Shang added.

Hikari smirked.

"You two play nice" she said.

Shang and Mulan blushed.

Mulan waved goodbye to her new friends as they left.

She would be forever grateful to them for what they did for her.

/

**A/N: Man, that was a long chapter! Why do I get the feeling that the rest of the story is going to be like this? Hope you guys don't mind that.**

**Looks like Hikari is suffering from more than just memory loss. Now her heart is acting up. I wonder what's wrong? **

**You'll just have to find out as the story continues.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne'**


	8. Beast's Castle

Chapter 8: Beast's Castle

**A/N: Hello again! Thank you for voting on Hikari's music theme. Since there were more vote's for Serah's theme from Final Fantasy Xlll, I'm sticking with that. Thank you for those who suggested other songs, I might us them for the other characters.**

**I'm also glad you guys liked that little flashback scene from the last chapter. I'm a die hard PIXAR fan and want to work there one day. **

**We'll be seeing more of those at the story progresses.**

**Also, I should have the other pics of Hikari and the other OC's up soon, so feel free to look at my Deviant page.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

As Donald was steering the Gummi Ship, Hikari looked out the window and mulled over that last battle.

After she fought with Shan-Yu, her heart acted up and gave her serious pain.

Why in the world would her heart act that way?

It never did that when she fought on her last journey.

Was is because that she slept for so long that her body was still getting used to the feeling of moving around?

"_That's probably it" _she thought.

She just let it slide for now.

No use worrying over something as pointless as that.

It's not like it was going to happen again.

Donald landed them on their next world.

Everyone got off the ship and went to see what this new world had to offer.

/

This new world consisted of a grand castle.

It appeared that they arrived here at nighttime since there was hardly any light out.

The shadows that cascaded from the windows gave the place an eerie feeling.

Hikari resisted the urge to shudder.

Even though she was starting to get over her fear of the dark, she was still slightly afraid of it.

She walked with the others down the main entrance way and looked around.

Sora closed the grand doors before joining them.

"Hey, what is this place?" he asked.

"It's huge" Donald said.

"And dark" Hikari added.

Donald gave her a dull look.

"Don't tell me you're still afraid of the dark?" he asked.

Hikari glared at him.

"Hey, after everything we've seen and done, I have a right to be afraid of it" she said.

"You don't know what lurks inside it!"

Goofy nodded.

"It is kind of gloomy here too" he said.

"I wonder who lives here?" Sora asked.

Just then, a loud roar echoed throughout the castle.

Everyone jumped in response.

Goofy looked at the grand stair case when he recognized that roar.

"Hey, does anybody else recognize that?" he asked.

Sora and Hikari thought for a moment.

Where did they hear that noise before.

When they heard the roar again, they knew who it was.

"Hey, that's the Beast!" Sora said.

How could they forget their dear friend?

The Beast helped them back when Hollow Bastion was controlled by Maleficent.

Hikari smiled.

"So this is his world?" she thought out loud.

"Maybe we should check up on him" Goofy said.

Just then, they saw a heartless scampering across the ground.

It headed towards the pallor's open door.

"C'mon!" Donald said.

They all ran after it in hopes that they would help Beast with his heartless problem.

/

When they entered the parlor, the couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

There was a fire going in the fire place and there was furniture here and there.

But what stood out in the room was a vibrant red rose floating in a glass case.

Hikari had to admit, that she had never seen anything more beautiful.

Donald was captivated by it and slowly went up to it.

As he got close, the heartless they were tracking popped up in front of them.

"Found it!" he said.

It seemed that the heartless triggered something since the group was surrounded by more heartless.

Everyone drew out their weapons and stood back to back with each other.

"No matter where we go, there's always a pest to squash" Hikari said.

Sora nodded.

"At least business is good" he said.

Since they were shadow heartless, the group was able to get rid of them without breaking a sweat.

When they got rid of one batch, they noticed another one popped up in its place.

Sora groaned in frustration.

"Aw, c'mon, enough already" he said.

"Somebody help us!" Donald cried.

Help did come, and it was none other than the Beast.

He barged open the doors and scanned the parlor.

Everyone cheered when they saw him taking out the heartless.

The Beast looked as fierce as ever when he turned to group.

He slowly walked over to them.

"Just in time!" Sora said.

The Beast just looked at him darkly and threw him out of the way.

Hikari was horrified to see him do the same with Donald and Goofy as well.

She jumped out of the way when he came towards her and watched as he went for the rose on the table.

He looked at it for a moment before picking it up and storming out of the room with it.

Hikari helped the others get up before looking out the door the Beast just went through.

Sora looked at confused as Hikari was.

"Gee, do ya think he maybe forgot who we are?" Goofy asked.

Sora and Hikari shook their heads.

"With this many heartless around, something must be up" Sora said.

"Why'd he have to that?" Donald asked.

Hikari just healed their bruises before they stepped out of the parlor.

/

As the scanned the main lobby of the castle, Donald looked up at the grand stair case to see someone up at the East wing.

It was only for a brief moment, but Donald could tell it was a woman.

"What is it?" Hikari asked.

Donald looked at the group.

"I just know I saw a lady at the top of those stairs…" he said.

Goofy mulled this over.

"Well…if the Beast is here in the castle, that lady musta been Belle, right?"

Hikari's face lit up.

Of course, it was Belle.

She was the reason why the Beast went to Hollow Bastion in the first place.

Not only that, but she was also a princess of heart like her.

"Belle might know what's happened to the Beast, too" she said.

"C'mon! Let's go find her" Sora said.

They all went up the stairs and headed for the East Wing.

/

When they entered the East Hallway, they found a door that stood near the end of the hall.

When they got close to it, Sora pressed a finger to his lips.

"Shh!" he said.

They tip-toed to the door and heard a female voice speak from the other side.

"What am I going to do?"

Hikari recognized that voice.

It was Belle.

She looked at Sora to see that he knew as well.

He pointed to door to Donald and Goofy to let them know as well.

Donald took this the wrong way and stood in front of the door, with the intention of opening it.

"Okay" he said.

Sora and Hikari panicked.

"Wait, Donald!"

But it was too late.

The magician charged at the door and slammed his body into it.

He thought he would meet with some resistance, but he was surprised to see that it was easy to open and that he fell face first into the room.

He sat up and glared.

"Hey! Who opened the door?" he asked.

He looked up to see Belle standing in front of him.

She was wearing a casual blue and white dress and had her hair pulled back slightly.

A huge contrast to the outfit she wore at Hollow Bastion.

She smiled brightly when she saw a familiar face.

"Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" she cried.

She bent down and picked Donald up to give him a bear hug.

"Donald!" she said happily.

She looked at the door to see the rest of the group.

"Sora! Hikari! Goofy!"

Everyone smiled and waved.

"Hiya!" Sora said.

Donald tried pulling himself out of Belle's tight grasp.

"Put me down! Put me down!" he cried.

Belle quickly did so and watched as his eyes spun.

/

After everyone clamed down, the group talked to Belle to see what was going on.

"Where's the Beast?" Donald asked.

Belle looked at the ground sadly.

"He must be in the West wing" she said.

"We don't talk like we use to"

"Did something happen?" Sora asked.

Belle nodded.

"Yes" she said.

"Isn't that why you're here?"

The group looked at each other.

That really wasn't the reason why they were here.

But they couldn't just leave their friends hanging like that.

Sora and Hikari just shrugged, showing that they really didn't care.

"Don't really" Goofy said.

"But we can still help!"

"Since we're here and all" Hikari added.

Donald tilted his head.

"The Beast won't talk to you?" he asked.

Belle shook her head.

"He's been acting strange lately" she admitted.

"The only ones who might know why are locked up in the dungeon. I want to help them, but…"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Wait a second" she said.

"Who locked who up?"

"The Beast locked up his servants" Belle said.

"But why?" Donald asked.

"That's what I don't know" Belle said.

Sora mulled this over.

"Hmm. Where's this dungeon?" he asked.

"You can get to the undercroft from the west hall" Belle said.

"The dungeon is down there"

Hikari nodded.

"West hall. Got it" she said.

"Be careful!" Belle said.

The group nodded and headed towards the Wet Wing in hopes of finding the lost servants.

/

The West wing was a lot brighter than the other parts of the castle.

Armored statues lined the walls.

The group looked around for the door that would lead to the undercroft.

"There's should be a way into the undercroft around here…" Sora said.

Hikari looked around and found a wardrobe against the wall.

They went up to it and noticed a door behind the wardrobe.

"Hey! I think I found the door!" Hikari said.

Sora saw it too and pushed the wardrobe out of the way.

They were about to open the door, however the wardrobe suddenly came to life and glared at the group.

"Do you MIND?"

It hobbled back over to the door and went back to sleep.

Everyone blinked a few times.

Did that wardrobe just talk?

Hikari held her head.

"I've seen way too many strange things" she said.

Sora went up to the wardrobe again and started to push it.

Hikari helped him push it slowly so they wouldn't wake it up.

Only when they pushed it out of the way did the thing wake up.

They could tell now that this wardrobe had very feminine features.

The wardrobe yawned.

"And I was just starting to get comfortable…" she said.

She looked at the group.

"May I help you?"

The group just blinked at the wardrobe.

Now that it was awake, they really didn't know how to respond to it.

Hikari rubbed her head.

"Um…Belle needs us to go to the dungeon " she said.

The wardrobe looked alert and awake at the mention of this.

"Goodness! You're here to help my friends?" she asked.

"Well why didn't you say so?"

Sora rubbed his head.

"Um…"

The wardrobe noticed their uneasiness and knew that they had never talked to a wardrobe.

"I'm sorry I startled you" she said.

"I used to be a human, you know, until the enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into a wardrobe when the prince was turned into a beast"

That surprised everyone.

"The prince is the Beast?" he asked.

"The Beast is a prince?" Goofy added.

The wardrobe nodded.

"That's right" she said.

"Although his behavior was far from princely at the time"

Hikari mulled this over.

This reminded her of Riku.

When he served under Maleficent, he acted like a total jerk, but after she set him free, he became her knight in shinning armor.

Sora rubbed his head.

"What's this about a…spell?" he asked.

The wardrobe's face grew grim.

"Well, it was a cold winter's night…"

Everyone nodded for her to continue on.

The wardrobe just gave them a silly smile.

"And that's enough for now" she said.

"You can hear the rest when you rescue the others. It'll give you something to look forward to"

Everyone hung their heads.

Way to ruin a good story.

"Hurry now!" the wardrobe said.

"The dungeon is damp and chilly. Certainly no place for a clock!"

Everyone raised an eyebrow.

"A clock?" Goofy asked.

"You'll find out soon enough" the wardrobe said.

The group nodded and headed down to the dungeons.

/

The dungeons were damp and chilly when they went in.

There really wasn't much except for a set of stone doors that stood in front of them.

Each of the doors bore a strange creature on them and looked like they were keeping the door closed.

Donald went up to it and placed his ear on the door to see if he could hear anything.

As he did, he failed to notice that the creatures that were etched on the door suddenly came to life.

Sora and Hikari paled when they realized that the creatures were actually heartless.

Donald slowly looked up to see the heartless come to life and backed off when it tried to slam its fists on him.

"Uh-oh!"

Everyone summoned their weapons and faced the heartless.

Since they were in such a small area, there really wasn't much room for them to fight.

Sora and Hikari had to keep jumping out of the way since the heartless had a tendency to stretch their arms out and slam them together.

Hikari figured that if she couldn't attack them physically, then she would just use magic on them.

She cast thunder spell after thunder spell on them.

Sora went into Valor form and hacked away at the heartless while Goofy helped out.

Donald kept the other heartless at bay during the whole time.

When the fight was over, the heartless turned into stone and crumpled away.

They all slowly went up to the now barren door and looked at it.

"You think the dungeon is past this door?" Donald asked.

"C'mon, we gotta set those servants free" Goofy said.

Sora nodded.

"He's right" he said.

"Let's get them out of there before they freeze to death" Hikari said.

They pushed the stone doors open so they could rescue the trapped servants.

/

But there wasn't anyone to save when they entered.

In fact, there was no one there.

All that stood in the damp basement was a clock, a candelabra and a tea pot set.

There were no human beings.

"There's nobody here" Sora said.

"You mean there's nobody to rescue?" Donald asked.

Hikari sighed.

"Did someone say 'rescue'?" a voice said.

Everyone jumped slightly.

Where did that come from.

Another voice shushed the first one.

"Keep quiet! It might be THEM!"

Another voice spoke up, only this time it was feminine.

"Oh, they look like nice children to me"

The group searched through the whole dungeon.

Who could be talking if there was no one here.

"We are nice" Goofy called out.

"We're your friends "

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. Belle sent us to find you"

Just then, the items that were sitting suddenly stood up and walked over to them.

The group was amazed to see objects come to life.

Sora and Hikari knelt down so they could be eye level with them.

"I'm Sora" Sora said.

"And I'm Hikari" Hikari added.

They pointed to Donald and Goofy.

"Donald. Goofy"

Donald went up to the clock and picked it up.

The clock that was known as Cogsworth squirmed in Donald's grasp.

"D-don't touch me!" he said.

"I-I'm self-winding!"

Donald shook him a bit.

Hikari gave the clock a sympathetic look

"I'm glad you're ok" Sora said.

The candelabra smiled.

"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" he said.

"Did somebody place a spell on you guys, too?" Goofy asked.

Cogsworth nodded.

"Yes, that's right…" he said.

"You've heard! It was the enchantress"

The candelabra looked at the ground sadly.

"It seems so long ago" he said.

The tea pot known as Mrs. Potts nodded.

"It was a cold winter's night" she said.

"An old woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter"

Hikari picked up her son, Chip and placed him beside her.

Cogsworth nodded.

"But the master of this castle, that is of course, the prince…"

He glared at Donald when he saw that he saw still fooling around and messing with his parts.

"Stop that! Put me down this instant!"

Donald did what he was told and placed him on his seat.

Cogsworth cleared his throat before continuing.

"The master turned her away" he said.

"All because if her, ahem, meager appearance "

"That's awful!" Hikari said.

Just leave it to the males to judge a girl by their appearances.

They only wanted to be near a pretty face.

"Oui. He was a spoiled prince" the candelabra said.

"So selfish and…how shall I say…cruel"

Cogsworth rounded on him.

"Lumiere!" he said.

"The old woman warned our master not to be deceived by appearances…" Mrs. Potts said.

"Still, he would not take her in"

"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress" Cogsworth said.

"She turned the prince into a beast, a shape she thought fitting for his cold heart" Mrs. Potts said.

"And to further punish him, everyone in the castle was enchanted too" Cogsworth added.

Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"Wow…that's quite a story" he said.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked.

"Let's get the enchantress!" Donald declared.

Mrs. Potts shook her head.

"Oh no, dear" she said.

"We already know what needs to be done" Lumiere said.

"But with the master out of sorts…"

Hikari nodded.

"He sure is acting weird" she admitted.

"It's almost as if he's forgotten how to trust others" Mrs. Potts said.

"You don't suppose he's been turned into a heartless, do you?" Cogsworth asked.

Everyone looked surprised.

"Heartless?" they asked.

Sora rubbed his head.

"If they're a part of this, then it's a good thing we're here" he said.

"Let's go find the Beast" Hikari said.

Cogsworth smiled.

"Splendid" he said.

He jumped off his seat, as did the others.

Lumiere walked towards the door.

"Follow me, messieurs and madam" he said.

"I know a shortcut"

He led them out to the undercroft where Cogsworth jumped up to the upper level.

A set of armor was blocking the doors so no one could enter.

Cogsworth looked at them.

"Allow our guests to pass" he ordered.

The guards stepped to the side and allowed them entry.

They walked through and headed deeper within the dungeon.

"All right, how do we get out of here?" Sora asked.

"I'm afraid we won't be marching out that easily" Lumiere said.

"You see, the door leading to the other side in concealed by a sort of contraption"

"What kind of contraption?" Hikari asked.

"Observe" Cogsworth said.

They watched as he pulled a lever that was in the wall.

A set of lanterns came down from the ceiling.

All of them emanated black fire.

"If we could but light all the lanterns in this passage the secret door would open…" Lumiere said.

"But as you can see, the lanterns are already burning-with an enchanted flame" Mrs. Potts said.

"You must put out this enchanted flame before I am able to light the lanterns properly" Lumiere said.

Goofy scratched his head.

"Can't ya just throw some water on 'em?" he asked.

"I'm afraid that's not enough" Mrs. Potts said.

"But if you use the power of light…"

Sora mulled this over.

"Hmm….how about I use my keyblade?" he asked.

Hikari watched as Sora helped Mrs. Potts and Lumiere lit up the lantern.

The black flames were replaced with a bright, glowing flame.

"Bravo!" Lumiere said.

"Only three lanterns left" Mrs. Potts said.

"If we work together, we'll have that door open in no time"

Sora smirked.

"Piece of cake" he said.

Lumiere sighed.

"Again, it's not quite that simple, mon ami" he said.

He pointed to Cogsworth, who was still dangling on the lever.

"Certainly you cannot expect Cogsworth to hang from that handle forever?" Lumiere asked.

Cogworth glared at him.

"Lumiere! Why you!"

Hikari went up to him and held him up so he wouldn't put strain on his arms.

"I got him" she said.

"You take as much time as you need"

Sora nodded and looked at Mrs. Potts and Lumiere.

"Let's hurry" he said.

They ran through the dungeon and lit the lanterns up properly.

As they finished the last one, they headed for the secret door.

"Are we all set?" Hikari asked.

Lumiere nodded.

"Oui. The secret door should open now"

Goofy looked around, but couldn't find the door.

"But I don't see a secret door" he said.

"No need to worry" Cogsworth said.

He pointed to a loose brick on the wall.

"Just push that brick over there"

Sora did it and activated the secret door.

The wall slid down to reveal a set of stairs for them.

Lumiere and Mrs. Potts left to take care of their duties around the castle while Cogsworth stayed behind.

"The master's room is at the very end of the west wing" he said.

"I shall go on ahead and wait for you"

They nodded and watched the little clock go up the stairs.

They soon followed after him and headed for the west hall.

/

Unlike the East hall, the west one was in complete shambles.

Statues were smashed to pieces and paintings were torn from their canvas's

Hikari also noticed that there was broken glass on the floor from someone smashing a mirror.

"I take it that this is the Beast's handy work?' she asked.

Sora just shrugged and looked at the door that stood at the end of the hallway.

"That must be his room" he said.

He looked at the others.

"Be on your guard. Who knows what kind of mood he's in"

They all nodded and slowly headed for the Beast's room.

/

It seemed that our heroes weren't the only ones who paid the Beast a visit.

A member from Organization Xlll paced back in forth in Beast's room while he looked at his rose.

The Organization member looked at him.

His hood was up, but he could see his prey very clearly.

"It's time you dealt with Belle" he said.

"She's scheming to take everything you have. This castle, your precious rose. And then-your life"

He walked past the Beast and looked at him over his shoulder.

"Trust no one. Feed your anger!" he said.

"Only anger will keep you strong"

The Beast shook his head sadly.

"I've had enough of strength" he said.

"There's only one thing I want-"

The Organization member scoffed.

"What? To love, and be loved in return?" he asked.

"Who could ever love a beast?"

The Beast glared at him and growled loudly.

Just as this was happening, Sora and the others came into the room with Cogsworth.

"See?" the Organization member asked.

"She has accomplishes"

He put up a barrier around the room and disappeared in a portal.

The group slowly went up to him.

"Hey, Prince" Sora said.

The Beast roared loudly, startling everyone.

Cogsworth ran to his master.

"Oh, dear! Master!"

Hikari noticed that darkness was emanating from the Beast.

"That Organization member did something to him!" she said.

Everyone pulled out their weapons.

"Can we really fight him?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Force is the only way" she said.

"He won't listen to us if we talk"

They jumped out of the way when the Beast lunged at them.

Sora and Hikari ran in and slammed their keyblades on their friend.

They didn't use a lot of force, but they used enough to stun him.

Cogsworth would pitch in by stunning the Beast with his clock chime.

That seemed to do the trick since he would grab his head in pain.

Hikari came up with an idea and had Sora and herself gather up their magic to transfer it to Cogsworth.

The tiny clock let loose an ear shattering chime that knocked the Beast back to his senses.

When the Beast was back to his normal self, he looked at his servant.

"Cogsworth…what happened?" he asked.

The little clock fiddled around as he looked at his master.

"Well, Master…ah, you see…that is…how shall I say…ah, actually….mmm"

Donald rolled his eyes and decided to spare the poor thing.

"Well, you put everybody down there in that dungeon" he said.

The Beast looked surprised.

"I did what?" he asked.

Cogsworth nodded.

"Ah…you did!" he said.

Hikari looked at the Beast.

"Who was that guy you were talking to?" she asked.

"The one in black?"

If the Organization was here, then that could only mean bad news.

The Beast thought for a moment before coming up with a name.

"Xaldin…that's his name" he said.

He looked at his hands.

"He came from the darkness…he…used my anger to control me"

He looked at the ground.

"He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain-and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do…I could no longer see the truth"

Goofy suddenly smiled.

"Well, I'll be" he said.

"That must be why you threw all of your friends down there into the dungeon. You wanted to make sure that you didn't hurt 'em, right?"

Hikari smiled.

Leave it to Goofy to lighten the mood.

The Beast looked at him.

"Was that it?" he asked.

"Was it to protect them?"

Hikari nodded.

"Sure" she said.

"We know you're good inside"

Cogsworth nodded.

"They're right, Master" he said.

"We've all seen how kind you can be. After all…Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to-"

The Beast's face drained.

"Belle!" he said.

He looked at the ground sadly.

"I've mistreated her…I've mistreated her and been so selfish"

Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"She didn't say anything about that" he said.

"She's never tell anyone of my cruelty…she's too good" the Beast said.

Cogsworth looked at them.

"You see, I'm afraid he judges himself far too harshly" he said quietly.

Hikari smiled at him.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" she asked.

The Beast looked away.

"But…" he said.

Hikari went up to him and grabbed him by the face.

"No excuses!" she said.

Sora nodded.

"C'mon, we'll go with you" he said.

The Beast nodded slowly before they walked out of his dilapidated room and headed for Belle's.

/

The trip to Belle's room was no walk in the park.

Everywhere they went, there were heartless.

It wasn't really a hassle for the group, but since the Beast was with them, it made things a lot more easier.

He would do this special move with Sora and Hikari where they would gather up all of their energy and let loose a powerful howl.

It would send a shock wave across the area and destroy the heartless.

When they came to Belle's room, they found the wardrobe waiting for them, but no Belle.

"Master!" the wardrobe cried.

"Everybody's safe now" Donald said.

The wardrobe smiled.

"Wonderful! Thank you!"

The Beast looked around the room for Belle.

"Where's Belle?" he asked.

The wardrobe looked at him.

"Why, she left in a hurry" she said.

"Something about going after this…man in black"

That sent the Beast over the edge.

"WHAT?" he cried.

"Why doesn't she do as she's told?"

The wardrobe tisked at him.

"Temper, temper" she said.

"Her spirit is what makes Belle so special"

"We better find her" Sora said.

They left Belle's room and started their search for her.

/

When they entered the main lobby area, they heard someone talking.

"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!"

They knew that voice.

It was Belle.

The Beast looked around the room.

"Belle! Where are you?" he cried.

Belle must have heard him because she called out to him.

"Beast! Help!" she cried.

'I'm in the ballroom!"

They ran up the stairs and headed for the grand doors that stood in the center.

The Beast smashed them open as he did so.

When they entered the nicely lit room, they saw Belle running away from something.

She looked over her shoulder in fear as she neared the back door.

"Belle!" the Beast shouted.

Belle opened the doors.

"I'm alright!" she said.

As she closed the door, a massive heartless appeared before them,

It was like a giant ball that had chains wrapped around it.

It sunk into the ground and let darkness seep everywhere.

Everyone jumped out of the way when the darkness started coming towards them.

The heartless popped up just as the whole ball room changed.

While it was elegant and beautiful before, now it was dark and gloomy.

Hikari gulped when she noticed how dark everything became.

Everyone pulled out their weapons and faced the heartless.

They had to end this fast or else Belle would be in trouble.

This heartless proved to be a sort of trickster since it would morph with parts of the room and use it to inflict pain on everyone.

Sora and Hikari would zap light from their keyblades at it while the Beast ripped it out the walls with his bare hands.

At one point, the darn thing morphed with the chandelier and tried to slam it on everyone.

Even if they jumped out of the way, it would just zap lasers at them.

The only time they could inflict damage to it was when they had the Beast rip out and leave it bare in the open.

When they finally got it where they wanted it, they inflicted massive damage to it.

The heartless twitched slightly before being engulfed by darkness.

"Well, that takes care of our heartless problem" Sora said.

But he spoke too soon before shortly after he said that, the heartless transformed and turned into the dark thorn heartless.

"Or not" Hikari said.

Everyone had to be on their toes with this heartless since it liked to blend in with its surroundings.

Hikari quickly held her keyblade and front of her and used one of her powers as a princess of heart.

"Light us a path!" she cried.

Rods of light appeared around her.

Hikari held her hand out and motioned it forward.

"Seek out the darkness!"

The rods zipped past her and targeted the heartless.

They embedded themselves into the heartless and made it appear visible again.

It seemed that the heartless didn't care that if it was visible or not.

It simply went on a rampage and charged at Sora and Hikari.

Sora pushed Hikari out of the way just at the heartless swung it's clawed hand at them.

He went flying, but he swung himself back into the fray but gripping one of the pillars that lined the room and shot back like a slingshot.

He rammed his keyblade at the heartless and managed the do some damage to it.

They thought they would wear the heartless down by now, but it still kept fighting.

HIkari breathed heavily from the strain this fight was putting on her.

If this fight kept on, she was done for.

She threw her head back and let out a frustrated groan.

"Come on. Give me a life line" she said.

She looked up at the ceiling and noticed that she was standing under the chandelier.

And idea suddenly came to her head.

She looked at Sora.

"Sora!"

The keyblade master saw her pointing to the chandelier and caught on to what she was trying to say.

He held out his hands to give her a boost up.

Hikari ran up and jumped on his extended hands and scaled the pillars before jumping up on the chandelier.

She yanked on the safety chain and brought the grand lamp down to the ground.

She gripped the chain and swung the chandelier around until it hit the heartless.

The dark thorn got caught and went flying into one of the walls before falling over in a heap.

The heartless let out a strangled cry before fading into the darkness.

With the heartless gone, the whole ball room when back to normal.

"We did it!" Sora cried.

Hikari cheered as well but gripped her chest when it suddenly started hurting again.

She coughed a tiny bit from it as well.

Sora looked at her worriedly.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari nodded weakly.

"I should be" she said.

"Oh dear. It looks like the princess is in pain" someone said.

Everyone whipped around to see an Organization member standing before them.

The Beast growled at him.

"Xaldin!"

He charged at him, only for the dreaded Nobody to go through a portal.

The Beast growled.

"What does he want here?" he asked.

"He must be with Organization Xlll" Hikari said.

The Beast looked at them in confusion.

Sora decided to explain everything.

"Ever heard of the nobodies?" he asked.

"When a strong-hearted person turns into a heartless, a Nobody's created too. See, the Organization…they've got control of all the nobodies"

"That's right" Goofy said.

"And they were gonna make you into a heartless. That way, they could have that nobody of yours and control it"

That made perfect sense.

Why else would the Organization want to bother with the Beast.

"You're alright!"

Everyone turned around to see Belle entering the room.

"Belle!" Beast cried.

He ran up to her and stood in front of her.

Belle noticed that the servants were free as well.

The Beast looked at her sadly.

"Belle…I-I'm sorry-I…wasn't myself" he said.

"I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you. Forgive me"

Belle smiled at him softly.

"I knew you weren't yourself" she said.

"You don't have to apologize"

Her smile faltered a little.

"But I had hoped…that you might have changed a little" she said.

"I wish you could start trusting me"

The Beast looked away sadly.

"I'm afraid time is running short" Lumiere said.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Remember the rose?" Lumiere asked.

"From the Beast's room?" Donald asked.

Cogsworth nodded.

"Precisely" he said.

"You see, if the master can learn to love, and earn love in return, before the last petal falls…"

"…the spell will be broken" Lumiere finished.

Sora and Hikari looked at the couple in front of them.

"Really?" Sora asked.

"You think he's gonna make it?"

"We think so" Mrs. Potts said.

"Yep, I think you're right" Goofy said.

"I HOPE you're right…" Sora said.

Hikari shrugged.

"The heart has a strange way of working" she admitted.

Just then, their keyblades appeared before them.

They must have found the keyhole to this world.

It seemed that Beast's rose wasn't just connected to his fate as well.

The keyblade masters sealed the keyhole before looking at the Beast and Belle.

"We have to get going" Hikari said.

"Now no more arguing" Goofy said.

The Beast and Belle blushed a little.

"Take care dears" Mrs. Potts said.

"You're welcome here at any time" Cogsworth added.

With that, they all said their farewells before embarking on another world to save.

/

**A/N: Woo hoo! Another chapter in! **

**Please review and tell me what you think, and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!**

**Ja ne**


	9. Olympus Coliseum

Chapter 9: Olympus Coliseum

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm glad I'm getting so many reviews for this story! Maybe if I'm lucky, I can reach the 100 mark in reviews! Since I just got the new Kingdom Hearts game, I might not write as much, but I promise that I'll try to update this soon (I need to do research for the next story in this series after all ^-^)**

**Also, remember to look at the pics I have of Hikari and the others.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

When everyone got back on the Gummi ship, they noticed that it was acting weird.

Before Sora could start the engine, the ship moved on its own.

"Hey, wait a minute…." Sora said.

"Is the ship moving all on its own?"

They noticed that it was headed towards Hollow Bastion.

"I wonder what's going on?" Hikari asked.

They would soon find out once they landed.

/

When they arrived, they headed for the Restoration headquarters.

"I wonder what's up?" Sora asked.

When they neared the house, they saw heartless coming out of it.

"Un-oh!" Donald cried.

They were about to attack the dreaded things, but they disappeared.

Sora looked at the others.

"C'mon!"

They ran inside to see Merlin sitting on the ground.

The old wizard rubbed his side as if he fell over.

When he saw the group, he slowly stood up while groaning.

"Well, now…took your time, did you?" he asked.

Hikari laughed nervously.

"Was it you who summoned us, Merlin?" Goofy asked.

The wizard nodded.

"Yes, yes…" he said.

"But it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal heartless…"

Hikari tilted her head.

"So what's up?" she asked.

Merlin adjusted his glasses.

"Well, I happened to stumble across this in the Zero district"

He magically summoned up a very familiar book.

It was none other than Pooh's story book.

Sora and Hikari's faces lit up.

"Pooh's storybook!" Sora cried.

Merlin nodded.

"That's right" he said.

"I know you're good friends with Winnie the Pooh-that's why I summoned you both. And when I did, I was attacked by the heartless. Of course I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but then I began to fear the book would be damaged, so I…"

He realized he was rambling, so he cleared his throat.

"Now, just a moment" he said.

"Leon and the others need to hear this too. I better go find them. Be back in a jiffy"

He disappeared in a puff of smoke and left our heroes to themselves.

They all looked at the book that was in Donald's hands.

"I wonder how Pooh's doing?" Hikari asked.

"What to find out?" Donald replied.

He opened the book and held it out for them to enter.

Sora looked at Goofy.

"Cover for us, ok?" he asked.

They faced the book and were magically sent to the Hundred Acre Woods.

/

The keyblade heroes walked down the dirt road that lead to Pooh's house.

They hoped that they would find their teddy bear friend.

And sure enough, when they rounded the corner, they found him sitting on his log and thinking away.

When they faced him, he looked up and smiled.

Hikari smiled at him gently.

"Hey, Pooh Bear" she said.

"How are you doing?"

"Finding enough honey lately?" Sora asked.

Pooh nodded.

"Oh yes" he said.

"In fact, I was just about to do my stoutness exercises. Would you like to join me, Sora? Hikari?"

They smiled at him.

"Sure, we're game" Sora said.

Pooh was about to jump off his log, but he seemed to freeze in the air.

Hikari raised an eyebrow at this.

What just happened?

"Huh?"

Sora was about to touch Pooh, but they were both blasted out of the book.

/

They landed on Merlin's floor when they were shot out.

Pooh's book closed up and locked itself up on them.

They both raised an eyebrow.

What just happened?

They didn't get to ponder much over that since they heard Donald shouting outside.

"Sora! Hikari! Hurry!" he said.

They both jumped to their feet and ran outside to help out their friends.

Donald and Goofy were fending off the heartless when they rushed out.

Goofy looked at them.

"Did you bring the book?" he asked.

Just then they saw a group of heartless walking off with it.

"Hey!" Sora cried.

"Give that back!" Donald shouted.

They charged at the heartless and attacked them so they wouldn't take the book away.

When the heartless were gone, they approached Pooh's book.

The cover was scratched and the picture was ruined.

"Do you think it's ok?" she asked.

Donald held up the book to examine it.

"Gawrsh, maybe ya better go back and make sure Pooh's all right" Goofy said.

"But what about Merlin?" Donald asked.

"Well, I guess we could explain…" Goofy said.

Everyone agreed to that idea.

Donald opened the book and held it out for them.

Sora and Hikari quickly rushed inside to see if there friend was alright.

/

They were glad to see Pooh still sitting on his log.

Then that meant nothing happened to him.

They quickly rushed over to him and sighed in relief.

"We're so glad you're ok, Pooh" Sora said.

Pooh looked up at them.

"And I'm glad you came to visit" he said.

"But you see, I was just about to do my stoutness exercises. Perhaps you could visit me a bit later…somebodies I don't know"

That threw Sora and Hikari off.

Somebodies he didn't know?

How could he not know about them?

He knew who they were before they were thrown out of the book.

Hikari looked at Sora, who simply shrugged.

Maybe Pooh's mind was frazzled by the heartless attack.

Hikari looked at Pooh.

"So…how's Piglet these days?" she asked.

Pooh looked at her while he was exercising.

"I don't think I know anyone by that name" he said.

Hikari's eyes widen.

He didn't know Piglet?

He best friend in the book?

The same cute, little pink pig that she would cuddle with and attempted to sneak out of the book?

She hung her head sadly.

This was too much for her.

Sora just sweat dropped, knowing her cuteness overload was taken down a notch.

He looked at Pooh.

"Pooh?" he asked.

The bear didn't respond.

"Hey, Pooh?"

Pooh just kept doing his exercises.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"Something really weird is happening here" he said.

Hikari looked at him sadly.

"You think?" she asked.

"Of course something weird is happening! How could Pooh forget about the cute and adorable Piglet? It's a living nightmare!"

Sora just sweat dropped at her.

Hikari looked suddenly determined.

"I need to find him and make sure he didn't get hurt by the heartless!"

She was about to run off, but Sora grabbed her wrist.

"Why don't we go check with Merlin before you do anything rash" he said.

Hikari pouted but let Sora drag her back to Hollow Bastion.

/

Merlin was waiting for them when they came back.

It seemed that Donald and Goofy told him what happened since he looked ticked off.

"Couldn't bother to wait for an old wizard, eh?" he asked.

Sora laughed nervously.

"Sorry about that…" Sora said.

Merlin just let it slide.

"How are things in there?" he asked.

Hikari looked at him sadly.

"Pooh seems to have forgotten about us" she said.

"He even forgot about Piglet!"

Merlin sighed.

"I was afraid of that…" he said.

He went up to the book and examined it.

It was then that the keyblade master's noticed most of the pages were missing.

"I suspect it has something to do with those pages the heartless stole" Merlin said.

"You'll have to collect the torn pages and repair the book to put things right"

Hikari sighed.

So she had to find the missing pages again?

"All that work just went down the drain" she said.

Sora patted her shoulder.

"Cheer up" he said.

"You did it once, I'm sure you can do it again"

They bid farewell to Merlin and went back to saving the worlds.

/

Hikari sighed as she sat in her seat.

It seemed that she had to add one more thing to her list.

Not only did she have to find Riku and seal the keyholes, but now she had to find the missing pages to Pooh's book.

She leaned back in her seat.

It seemed that her work was never done.

Being a Sorceress and a keyblade master could really take its toll on her.

She just closed her eyes and took a nap while Sora was driving.

As she did, more of her lost memories came to the surface.

/

_Hikari and Leon giggled as they ran down the hallways of the castle._

_After that little incident at the park, Leon insisted that they only play around the house._

_As they rounded the corner Hikari bumped into someone._

"_Be careful" the person said._

_Hikari looked up at the person._

_The person was blurred out but was obvious that it was a male who talked to her._

_Hikari's face lit up when she saw who it was._

"_Daddy!"_

_The man smiled and bent down to pick her up._

_Leon scowled as he watched his sister being held by their father._

_The man held Hikari close to her and rubbed her back._

"_What were you doing just now?" he asked._

_Hikari smiled as him._

"_Ni-san and I were racing each other" she said._

"_And I was winning!"_

_The man chuckled._

"_Is that so?" he asked._

_He turned to Leon._

"_I bet you were having fun" he said._

"_You're always seen playing together after all"_

_Leon simply continued to scowl at him._

_His hands curled into fists at his side._

"_Of course I was…dad"_

/

Hikari was woken up by someone shaking her.

She looked up to see Sora standing over her.

"We're at our next world" he said.

"It's Olympus Coliseum"

Hikari yawned before stretching.

She stood up and brushed the hair out of her face.

She looked at Sora.

"Hey Sora…I think I just remembered my dad" she said.

Sora looked surprised.

"Really?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"I think so" she said.

"I mean, I called the man in my memories 'daddy'. That must mean I had a dad, right?"

Sora just shrugged.

"Well, at least you know you have a dad" he said.

Hikari nodded slowly.

"Yeah…I guess you're right" she said quietly.

"_But I don't understand something" _she thought.

"_Why couldn't I see his face? And why did Ni-san look so angry to see him? Is there more to that memory? Or am I just over thinking everything?" _

She just shook her head and followed everyone out of the ship.

/

Inside the Coliseum, the mighty hero, Hercules was fighting off the dastardly rock titan.

Even though he was the size of an ant compared to the rock giant, his god like strength made up for it.

He grabbed the rock titan by the ankle and pulled him down.

When the titan slammed into the ground, Hercules started swinging him around like a top.

When he got enough momentum, he threw the tock titan up in the sky and watched as it became a small speck.

The crowd cheered as they saw their hero win again.

Hercules smiled and held his sword up in victory.

/

While this was all happening, our heroes found themselves in a different part of Olympus.

This place was all dark and gloomy.

The whole area seemed to be underground since everywhere they saw was rock.

Hikari could feel the chills running down her spine as she looked around.

Everyone looked confused as they looked at the area.

"Are you sure this is the coliseum?" Goofy asked.

Donald saw a set of glowing stair heading to an upper level.

That must be where the coliseum was.

"It's that way" Donald said.

They started walking towards the stairs.

"I guess we were a little off" Hikari said.

They were about to head up, but they heard someone screaming.

They turned around and saw a woman running from a group of heartless.

The woman tripped over her long pink dress and fell over.

The group quickly rushed over to her before the heartless could do anything to her.

They quickly got rid of them before they went to help the woman.

Sora held his hand out, but the woman shook her head.

"Thanks, but…I'm fine" she said.

When Sora didn't budge, she simply sighed and accepted his help.

She dusted her dress off and looked at the group.

"And you're supposed to be?" she asked.

Sora pointed to himself.

"I'm Sora" he said.

Hikari waved.

"And I'm Hikari" she said.

She pointed to Donald and Goofy.

"He's Donald, and that's Goofy"

"We came to see how Hercules is doing" Sora said.

The woman raised an eyebrow at them.

"You know Wonderboy?" she asked.

Donald smiled.

"Yeah. 'Cause we're heroes too!" he said.

Goofy looked at him.

"Ya mean junior heroes, Donald" he said.

Donald just made a face.

The woman chuckled.

"Looks like we have a friend in common" she said.

"Name's Megera. My friends call me Meg"

Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"So how's Herc?" he asked.

"Wonderboy?" Meg asked.

"Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know, "a hero's work is never done" and all that"

She sighed.

"He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting" she said.

"Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news- special deliveries from Hades himself…"

Everyone's eyes widen.

"Hades?" Donald asked.

They remembered he caused them lots of trouble when they were here on their last journey.

Meg nodded.

"Right. Lord of the Underworld" She said.

"I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happened to that kid…"

Hikari wore a know it all smirk on her face.

It seemed that Meg considered Hercules as more than a friend.

"Gawrsh, it seems like you're more than just friends" Goofy said.

Meg blushed and cleared her throat.

"Oh...um, I mean…"

Hikari looked at Sora.

The brunette seemed to sense the same thing she was thinking.

There was no way that Meg could go talk to Hades on her own with heartless running around.

"We'll go have a talk with Hades" he said.

"We'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him"

Meg looked surprised.

"You really want to do that?" she asked.

She smirked.

"Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer"

She looked serious.

"But…let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"

The group nodded.

"Our lips are sealed" Hikari said.

With that, they headed for the entrance that lead them deeper into the Underworld.

/

As they stepped into the passage way, they saw someone running through the narrow pathway.

The person wore a very familiar black cloak.

"The Organization!" Donald cried.

"Yeah" Sora said.

Hikari sighed.

"They seem to be everywhere" she said.

Sora nodded.

"Let's go" he said.

"If they're here, then that means things are about to get out of hand"

They ran down the dark and foggy path way that lead to Hades' chambers.

Since everything was underground, they had to keep moving or else they would get hit by the loose rocks from the ceiling.

It was a combination of that and slaying any heartless they came across to.

Hikari simply jumped out of the way and let a loose rock squash her heartless.

She noticed that her body felt really heavy when she fought.

Her arms felt like lead whenever she swung her keyblade and her energy would drain whenever she tried to use a spell.

She thought it was connected to her chest pain, but she noticed that the others were affected by it too.

"_It must have something to do with this place" _she thought.

They kept walking while they avoided getting concussions from the loose rocks.

/

When they entered an inner chamber they saw the Organization member from before running towards them.

Everyone summoned their weapons, thinking that they were going to fight, but they were dumb founded when they saw the member running past them.

"Run! Run away!" he cried.

They looked at him as he ran through a portal.

Hikari raised an eyebrow when Sora tilted his head.

"Okay…?" he said.

"That was weird" Hikari said.

They looked at where he came from and found an opening in one of the walls.

A greenish glow seemed to be coming from it.

Sora peered through the opening and saw a path way that lead to a strange chamber.

It resembled a type of skull and was surrounded by a green lake.

"Hey, I think I figured out where Hades is" he said.

The others went over to him and saw the chamber as well.

"I think you're right" Hikari said.

"Who else would to live in a giant skull?"

They summoned their weapons just in case and cautiously walked through the opening.

/

Deep within Hades' lair, the Lord of the Dead was fuming in his seat.

He just found out that the rock titan that he sent to defeat Hercules was toasted.

He slammed his fist on his throne.

"Where do they dig these freak up?" he asked.

"Geez, Louise"

His guest, Pete was standing in front of him.

It seemed that the cat wanted to recruit Hades for his plan.

"So, uh…what're you gonna do about Hercules?" he asked.

"He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at him"

He chuckled a bit while Hades drummed his fingers in irritation.

"Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only" Pete continued.

"Say, why don't you just send someone already dead and save him the trouble?"

Hades suddenly sat up straight at hearing this.

Pete took it the wrong way and cowered from his gaze.

Hades smirked darkly.

"Dead" he said.

"Dead is good"

He chuckled.

"And I have just the warrior"

/

Back with our heroes, they stepped foot on the narrow road that lead to Hades' chambers.

The whole area gave off a negative vibe.

The water below them was an acid green and Hikari could have sworn that she saw bodies swimming within it.

Donald and Goofy seemed to be freaked out by it too.

Donald whimpered slightly.

"I'm scared too, Donald" Goofy said.

Hikari put a comforting hand on their shoulders.

Sora walked forward and looked around.

"Hades! Come out!" he cried.

They looked up at the chamber where the Lord of the Dead was residing.

"Why don't we pay a little visit to our scheming friend?" Hikari asked.

"Perhaps we can give him a house warming gift?"

She propped her keyblade on her shoulder to prove her point.

Sora chuckled and nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me" he said.

They headed towards the chamber to pay their little god friend a visit.

/

Hades and Pete stood in front of a huge hole in the ground.

Dark energy seemed to swirl through it as they peered down.

Pete gulped slightly.

"By the by, uh…what's down there?" he asked.

Hades just smirked darkly.

"Just the Underworld's deepest dungeon" he said.

"This time I'm bring out the mother of all bad guys"

Pete back away slightly.

"You don't say?" he asked.

"Well…maybe I should go"

Hades gathered energy into his hands and shot them into the pit.

Smoke emanated from the pit and brought forth one of Hades' prisoners.

The prisoner appeared to be a fallen warrior wearing a red coat with his left stuck in his sleeve like a sling. He also had a scar running down the right side of his face.

Hades laughed and crossed his arms.

"Let's cut to the chase" he said.

"Here's the deal that I'm going to offer you. I let you out of the slammer-no strings- you'll be free as a bird. And all for one little job. Fight Hercules, the coliseum…to the death!"

The warrior smiled ruefully.

"This is my story" he said.

"And you're not part of it"

He drew out his large katana and went into a fighting stance.

Hades glared at him.

"Did you forget who you're talking to?" he asked.

"I am the Lord of the Dead!"

The warrior snorted.

"No wonder no one wants to die" he said,

That put Hades over the edge.

How dare he be humiliated like that.

"You are FIRED!"

He burst into flames and charged at the warrior.

The warrior was quick to respond and blocked Hades' attack.

As this was going on, Sora and the others ran into the room.

They panicked when they saw Hades attacking the warrior.

"Hades!" Donald cried.

Hades looked at them with disgust when he saw them.

"You again?" he scoffed.

The warrior knocked Hades back.

"Fight!" he said.

They attacked for a bit until Hades got the upper hand and knocked the warrior off his feet.

When he was about to land the finishing blow the group summoned their weapons and stood in front of the warrior.

"Get up!" Sora said.

Hades looked at them darkly.

Hikari aimed her keyblade at him.

"Let's cool things off a bit" she said.

She shot a blizzard spell at him, but was surprised that it didn't affect him.

In fact, it just bounced right off him.

"What?" she asked.

She noticed that her energy was draining fast.

Hades smirked darkly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Feeling under the weather?"

Sora charged at him to land a physical blow but it just bounced off of him.

"Something's wrong!" Donald said.

"I feel kind of funny" Sora said.

Hades smirked darkly.

"That's right" he said.

"See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeros-comes with the territory"

He went to attack them, but the warrior blocked him.

"Go now!" he said.

"But we've got to talk to Hades!" Sora said.

Hades covered his ears.

"What was that?" he asked.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"He's not going to listen to us" she said.

"Let's go while we still have a chance"

The warrior started pushing them towards the entrance.

"We can't fight him here" he said.

"We have to go-now!"

They ran as Hades threw giant fire balls at them.

/

When they made it to the chamber's entrance, Sora and Goofy closed the doors, hoping that it would keep Hades in.

Donald panted from running.

"Is he gone?" he asked.

"Don't count on it" the warrior replied.

Everyone paled when the saw Hades suddenly appear before them.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked.

They all knew it was hopeless to fight him, so they just ran, however, that didn't stop Hades.

Whenever they got to a certain part of the pathway, he would stop them and put up a barrier so they couldn't escape.

Hikari would break them while the others distracted Hades and kept running.

They kept this up until they made it to the inner chamber that they came from.

Only when they ran through it did Hades stop his chasing.

/

Once everything knew they were safe, they plopped down in exhaustion.

Sora looked up at the warrior to see that he was still standing.

"You're really good" he said.

"Are you some kind of hero?"

The warrior slowly shook his head.

"No" he said.

"I'm no hero. I'm just an…"

He was quiet for a moment.

"Auron" he finally said.

Everyone looked in confusion.

What was that?

The warrior sensed it as well.

"My name" he explained.

Sora smiled and stood up.

"I'm Sora" he said.

Hikari jumped on his back.

"I'm Hikari"

Donald jumped on her back.

"Donald"

Goofy jumped on his back.

"Goofy!"

Sora couldn't take the strain of everyone's weight on him and fell.

Everyone fell on top of him in response.

Auron smirked slightly.

"It seems we were fated to meet" he said.

"Perhaps you need a guardian"

Everyone finally managed to untangle themselves before they looked at him.

"Guardian?" Sora asked.

"Thanks, but no thanks"

"Yeah, we can take care of ourselves on our own" Hikari said.

They got and started walking away.

Auron just smirked at them and followed them back to the Underworld's entrance.

/

Back in Hades' chambers, the Lord of the Dead was fuming over his current predicament.

Pete watched as he paced back and forth like an angry cat.

"I got heartless all over the Underworld now" he said.

"So you can leave those pipsqueaks to me"

He walked up to Hades.

"Look, pal" he said.

"You just keep working on turning Hercules into a heartless. Then he'll be all mine"

Hades growled and exploded on him.

"This is my underworld, you idiot!" he snapped.

"I'll handle this MYSELF!"

He snapped his fingers and summoned his three headed dog, Cerberus.

"Cerberus, go!" he ordered.

The dog growled and ran after the keyblade heroes.

/

As the group was heading for the Underworld entrance, Hikari noticed that Auron kept looking at her.

She got a little creped out and confronted him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Because you keep looking at me"

Auron shook his head.

"No" he said.

"You just looks like this girl that I used to protect. You have the same spirit as she did"

(A/N: I wonder who could that be?^-^)

Hikari raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Ok" she said.

"But just remember that I'm not her. I'm me and know on else"

Auron smirked slightly.

"Of course"

They kept walking until they made it to the chamber that lead to the entrance.

They would have gone through, but they saw that the entrance was locked up.

Sora and Hikari summoned their keyblades.

"Will that open it?" Auron asked.

"Yeah" Sora said.

Just then, the sound of growling could be heard.

Auron quickly pulled out his katana.

"Hurry!" he said.

Cerberus appeared before them and snapped its three jaws at them.

Sora and Hikari quickly unsealed the lock and opened the door.

Everyone ran through the opening, but Sora and Hikari stopped when they noticed that Auron was still fighting Cerberus.

They summoned their keyblades and quickly ran to help him.

"Let's even the odds" Sora said.

Hikari put up a barrier in front of the door in case Cerberus got through.

The three headed dog growled at them, showing that it remembered the keyblade heroes.

One of the head went to snap at them, but Hikari bashed it with her keyblade.

"Bad dog!" she said.

Cerberus just growled at her before attacking.

It seemed that the dog learned a few tricks since they last fought it.

It would use it's same moves of shooting fire balls at them and whipping around really fast to throw them off.

Sora and Hikari would dodge them before they did a special move with Auron called Bushiedo.

This stunted the middle head for a moment, but the two side heads lunged at Sora at the same time.

He was quick to respond and blocked them with his hands.

The middle head quickly regain to and went to snap at Sora.

Hikari quickly jammed her keyblade into its mouth so it wouldn't snap its jaw shut.

"Now Sora!" she cried

Sora jumped into the air and quickly slammed his keyblade on them.

The dogs were knocked out from the impact, which gave them the perfect opportunity to head for the entrance.

Just as they passed through it, Cerberus woke up and charged at them.

Everyone laughed and made silly faces at the dog as the doors closed.

They heard Cerberus hit the door.

"Stupid dog" Hikari said.

/

Back at the Coliseum, Meg was trying to persuade Hercules to take a break.

Even though she trusted Sora and Hikari to keep their end of the deal, she wanted to at least see if she could do anything.

"Come on, Wonderboy, play hooky for a day" she said.

"For old time's sake?"

Despite being tired, Hercules shook his head.

"They came to see me" he said.

"They came to see a hero. I can't let them down"

Meg sighed sadly.

Hercules stood up and gave her a tired grin.

"Don't worry, Meg" he said.

"I'll be fine. What does a hero need rest for, huh?"

He went back to the arena where his fans were cheering for him.

Meg sadly looked up at the sky.

"Sora, Hikari, don't let me down" she said.

/

Back with our heroes, they all finally made it to the entrance to the Underworld.

Hikari looked around to notice that Auron was gone.

"What happened to Auron?" she asked.

The guys noticed that he was gone too.

"He can take care of himself" Sora said.

"Let's go fine Meg. Then we can try this again"

Everyone nodded at the idea.

They headed for the grand staircase that lead to the upper world.

The Underworld was starting to get to them.

/

Back within Hades' chambers, the Lord of the Dead was anything but pleased.

Not only did he find out the Cerberus failed to destroy Sora and the others, but he also found out that they were able to unlock the seal that he placed at the entrance with their keyblades.

He looked at Pete.

"Let me see if I got this right" he said.

"Those keyblades those little brats have work on any lock?"

Pete nodded.

"That's right" he said.

Hades grinned darkly as an idea came to his mind.

"Have I ever told you about the killer coliseum we have right here in the Underworld?" he asked.

"It makes the one upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool"

Pete caught on what he was talking about an grinned as well.

"Then that's the place we're gonna put an end to Herc the Jerk's winning streak" he said.

"Problem" Hades said.

"Zeus locked it tight"

Hades laughed darkly.

Pete didn't know why he was laughing until it dawned on him.

"Bingo" Hades said.

"All we gotta do is swipe those keys and then reopen the Underdrome!"

Pete rubbed his head.

"Hate to tell ya, but those keys are kinda particular" he said.

"It won't work for anybody. And those kids are no pushovers"

Hades smirked darkly.

"I think this calls for a woman's touch" he said.

He summoned up a statue shaped like Meg, which triggered a reaction to the real one waiting at the Coliseum.

/

Hikari was relieve when they saw sunlight.

They finally made it to the Coliseum.

"This sure does bring back memories" Goofy said.

The others nodded.

They remembered all the competitions they had here and how they were dubbed junior heroes.

They headed for the Coliseum entrance just as Hercules was stepping from out of it.

The tired hero sighed.

He was really at his limits now.

When he saw the others, his spirits were lifted.

"Sora! Hikari! Donald! Goofy!" he said.

"When'd you get here?"

The grouped smiled, glad to see a familiar face.

"Hi" they said.

Hercules walked up to them while Meg watched from the Coliseum entrance.

"You off on another adventure?" Hercules asked.

Hikari smiled.

"Yeah, tracking some friends, wiping out some heartless" she said.

Hercules smiled.

"Junior heroes, always busy" he said.

"You know it" Sora said.

They all went back into the Coliseum to catch up with each other.

"So, did you find those friends of yours?" Hercules asked.

"Still working on it" Sora said.

"When we got here, we ran into Meg-"

Hikari paled and realized that he was about to talk about Meg, even though they promised they wouldn't.

She dug her heel into his foot and quickly covered their friend.

"Meg-Mega-trouble!" she said.

"So we had to help somebody out"

Meg mouthed 'thank you' to her.

Sora winched at the pain in his foot, but went along with everything.

"We tried to go teach Hades a thing or two…but the Underworld drains away all our strength" he said.

"Don't suppose you have any ideas?"

Hercules mulled this over.

"Well, there is a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse" he said.

"The god's on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there"

"Think we could use it?" Hikari asked.

Hercules nodded.

"Sure, why not?" he asked.

"I'll go get it for you"

"Thanks" Donald said.

"But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus stone" Hercules warned.

"And I have a match today, so I can't go with you"

He stood up.

"You know what you need? Training!" he said.

"Why don't you go talk to Phil?"

"Hey, good idea" Sora said.

They went to see their favorite goat man while Hercules went to get them the Olympus stone for them.

/

Phil was currently busy fixing up the arena when the group entered it.

He heard their footsteps, but he figured it was only Hercules.

"Hey champ, how ya feeling?" he asked.

"Better rest for tomorrow's match. Nobody's gonna pay to see a worn-out hero…capiche? Remember what I told you. Victory in the game comes down in two simple words: eat, bathe, sleep"

The group laughed when they noticed that Phil messed up on his count.

The goat man was about to chew whoever it was that was laughing at him, but he smiled when he saw it was his junior heroes.

"Hey, if it ain't the junior heroes" he said.

"Looking good, Phil" Sora said.

Phil smiled and looked at them, noticing that they changed since he last saw them.

"Never better" he said.

"How you guys been? Have you earned you're "true hero" wings yet?"

When the group didn't say anything, they gave him his answer.

He shook his head.

"Nope, you ain't got what it takes" he said.

Sora made a face.

After all that they did and after all of the worlds they saved, they weren't considered true heroes yet.

"So, what's up?" Phil said.

When they told him about their little adventures in the Underworld, he busted out laughing.

"Ha, ha, ha! You four are gonna take on Hades?" he asked.

Donald glared at him.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Phil stopped laughing when he saw how serious they were.

"You got never. I like that" he said.

"Hey, you never know-stranger things have happened, right? Better get cracking!"

They practiced with Phil for a tiny bit before they called it quits.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"You've really gotten go at using magic, Hikari" he said.

Hikari smiled slightly and shrugged.

"Well, I am a sorceress" she said.

"I have a reputation to keep up"

Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"It must be nice to have powers like that" he said.

Hikari's smiled faltered.

She remembered that one memory where all the kids ran from her because she was a sorceress.

"Actually, it isn't" she said.

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Hikari looked at him sadly.

"Back when I used to live on Hollow Bastion, everyone used to fear me. I remembered that none of the kids would play with me and that the adults called me evil. They said sorceress' brought chaos and destruction, that they shouldn't be trusted. People with great power like are fear by everyone. They think they're evil and that they'll be doomed. My mom had is worse since she was older"

She bit her lip.

"I just don't understand it" she said.

"I mean, sure everyone wants power, but once they see someone who has it, they flip out. I just don' t understand why people would want something, only to fear it"

Sora gripped her shoulder.

"I don't understand it either" he said.

"I've seen what you can do with your powers, and they're not something to be afraid of. I think people are just jealous because they can't have as such awesome powers as you do"

He smiled.

"They're jealous because they can't use them like you do. You help saved the world from darkness. I doubt anyone else could pull something off like that. have a little more faith in yourself"

Hikari smiled at him.

"Thanks, Sora" she said.

"I think I can see why Kairi likes you so much"

Sora blushed at the mention of Kairi, while made Hikari giggled.

When Hercules came back, they went up to him.

Phil went up to Hercules as well.

"Listen, I gotta take off for a bit" he said.

"Where to?" Sora asked.

Phil glared at him.

"None of your beeswax" he said.

He walked off, leaving them to their own demise.

Hikari just shrugged and looked at Hercules.

The hero looked at them sadly.

"I'm sorry, guys…" he said.

"The Olympus stone has been stolen"

Everyone panicked.

"What?"

"By who?"

Hercules shrugged.

"We don't know who did it yet" he said.

"All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black-hooded cloak. And he had accomplishes- a bunch of creatures in white"

Everyone's faces grew grim..

They knew who stole it.

Hercules sensed their mood.

"Someone you know?" he asked.

They nodded.

Sora looked at him.

"Hey, if we get the Olympus stone back, can we use it?" he asked.

Hercules nodded.

"Sure" he said.

He looked around the arena.

"By the way, you haven't seen Meg around, have you?" he asked.

Now that they thought about it, they didn't see her since they were inside the Coliseum.

She never came out.

They shook their heads.

Hercules hung his head sadly.

"Oh, ok" he said.

Hikari bit her lip.

She felt so bad for him.

She could almost understand his pain.

She was looking for her lost love and she didn't know where he was.

She held her hands together.

"_Riku, please be ok" _she thought.

Just then, Hades appeared behind Hercules.

"What's wrong, your hero-ness?" he asked.

"Feeling under the weather?"

Hercules stepped back and glared at him.

The Lord of the Dead just smirked at him.

"You know, I thought staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description" he said.

"You know what I'm saying?"

Sora suddenly remembered that they had to talk to Hades.

"Oh, right….Hades, we gotta talk!" he said.

Hades just rolled his eyes and flicked him in the forehead.

Hikari sighed when she saw him fall down.

The Lord of the Dead ignored them and focused of Hercules.

"I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news" he said.

"Seems your dear, sweet little nutmeg…went and got herself lost in the Underworld"

Hercules glared at him.

"You mean you kidnapped her!" he said.

Hades just shrugged.

"Well, maybe…but why get caught into the details?" he asked.

Hercules whistled and summoned his winged horse, Pegasus.

He was about to jump on, but Hades stopped him.

"You can't leave now, okay?" he said.

"You've got a very important match today, against…the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who know what kind of 'accidents' might happen"

Hikari glared at him.

"Yeah, accidents you cause" she said.

Hades waved her off.

"Like I said: details, who needs 'em?" he said.

"You're just a coward!" Hercules retorted.

Hades smirked and shrugged.

"Ah well, can't all be heroes" he said.

He disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Hercules sighed before looking at the group.

"Can you handle this?" he asked.

Donald nodded.

"You got it! We're heroes!" he said.

"Junior heroes" Goofy reminded him.

"You take care of the Hydra" Sora said.

"We'll handle the rest" Hikari said.

Hercules looked relieved.

"I'm counting on you" he said.

He looked at Pegasus.

"I need you to find Meg" he said.

The horse nodded and took off.

Sora looked at the others.

"Let's go!" he said.

They nodded and ran back for the Underworld while Hercules prepared to fight the Hydra.

/

When the group made it back to the Underworld, they were horrified to see Phil down there.

The poor goat was passed out on the ground.

"Phil!"

They ran to him and helped him up.

Hikari cast a cure spell just to play it safe.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

Phil groaned as he stood up.

"I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black" he said.

"I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars"

"All dressed in black?" Donald asked.

"He's the one who stole the Olympus stone" Hikari said.

"Where did he run off to?" Goofy said.

"To the Underworld" Phil said.

They looked at the entrance that lead deeper into the Underworld.

"He's a bad apple, all right" Phil said.

"And all I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed a break"

Sora crossed his arms and looked at the goat.

"Heroes, eh?" he asked.

"You could've just asked!"

Phil looked at them hopefully.

"You know someone?" he asked.

When he saw that Sora was referring to himself and the group, his head fell.

"Oh, good one…" he said.

Hikari just sighed.

"Come on" she said.

"Let's get that stone before this place sucks us dry"

They nodded and headed for the Underworld.

/

Back at the Coliseum, Hercules fought with the deadly Hydra.

He wanted to finish this as quickly as possible, but he also wanted to make sure he killed the nasty lizard before that.

He didn't want his fans to get hurt.

The Hydra hissed at him when Hercules slammed his sword on its face.

It flicked out its forked tongue at him before growling.

Hercules sliced its throat when it went to bit him and watched as it fell lifelessly to the ground.

With that out of the way, he quickly ran for the Underworld to help his friends rescue Meg.

/

The pits of the Underworld were really creepy.

Everything was so foggy, that you couldn't see in front of your hand.

Everyone had to be careful when they walked because they didn't know if they were going to walk right over and edge or if they were going to encounter a horde of heartless.

Sora waved this wispy smoke from his face as they walked.

"Man, this fog is getting annoying!" he said.

"Can't we get rid of it somehow?"

Hikari held up her keyblade.

"Let me see what I can do" she said.

She raised it into the air and created spheres of light and shot them into the air.

The spheres glowed brightly and cleared the dog away.

Hikari groaned when she noticed how much her energy was drained from her.

"Man" she said.

"This Underworld curse is really getting to me"

"We've gotta get that Olympus stone back fast!" Goofy said.

They continued walking through the Underworld, with much trouble.

They tried to avoid fighting as many heartless as they could.

If an Organization member had the Olympus stone, then they wanted to be at full strength when they fought.

They could never be too sure with those guys.

When they made it to this type of cavern, they saw a guy wearing a black cloak.

He was just standing there, not realizing that he had company.

When he finally noticed he wasn't alone, he flipped out.

"Ah! You!" he said.

He pulled his hood back to reveal himself to be Demyx, although they didn't realize it.

Demyx studied them for a second.

"Wait a sec…" he said.

He looked at Sora.

"Roxas?"

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

Demyx looked at Hikari.

"Ankoku?"

Hikari shook her head.

"Sorry, you got the wrong chick" she said.

Who the heck was this Ankoku chick? And why did it sound familiar?

Demyx sighed.

"Oh, it's no use" he said.

Sora tilted his head.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Demyx just pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Let's see, here…'if the subjects fail to respond, use aggression to liberate their true disposition'. Right. Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"You're bizarre" she said.

Demyx put the paper away and pulled out the Olympus stone.

"He's gotta be the thief!" Goofy said.

Demyx scoffed.

"Now that's just plain rude" he said.

He used the stone to prevent the Underworld curse from affecting him and summoned his sitar.

He created water clones of himself and sent them to the keyblade masters.

Hikari scoffed.

"Tell me you're joking?" she asked.

She cast a few fire spells as some and watched as they turned into steam.

Sora just grabbed one and swung it around like a whip to destroy the rest of the clones and flung it back at Demyx.

The Melodious Nocturne groaned and held his side.

He looked at Sora and Hikari for a moment.

"Roxas, Ankoku. Come back to us" he said.

He disappeared within a portal.

"Guy's a broken record" Sora said.

"Not to mention out of date" Hikari added.

"Seriously, who has a mullet these days?"

Donald spotted the Olympus stone on the ground.

It seemed that Demyx dropped it somehow.

Donald picked it up and activated it.

Everyone felt their energy return to them.

Hikari sighed in relief.

"That's better" she said.

Sora looked at the group.

"Let's go!" he said.

"Meg needs our help!"

They ran inside the cavern to rescue their friend.

/

They found a rather strange looking boulder when they stepped into the cavern.

While most of the stuff in this Underworld anything but ordinary, this one toped the cake.

The rock seemed to have a figure etched into the earthy substance and appeared to be polished while the rest of it was broken off and crumply. They also noticed a keyhole was carved into the center.

When they got a closer look, they realized it was Meg who was trapped into the rock.

Sora and Hikari quickly whipped out their keyblades and unsealed the tomb Meg was put into.

The rock disappeared, leaving only a glowing pillar of light in its place.

"Meg!" Donald said.

"Almost there" Sora said.

They jumped into the pillar and were brought to the upper level of the cavern.

They saw Meg tied up by chains of smoke.

She looked relieved to see her friends, but her grin faltered when Hades came up to them.

The Lord of the Dead smirked darkly.

It seemed that his plan had worked out.

Now the Underdrome was open.

"Now that's what I call a key" he said.

He looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Gee, thanks for your help" he said.

"Now have a nice day"

He disappeared in a cloud of smoke and left them.

Meg paled when she saw Pete behind her friends.

"Behind you!" she cried.

Everyone whipped out their weapons.

Pete laughed at them as he summoned a group of heartless.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Can't fight in the Underworld? Oh boo hoo"

Sora glared at him.

"Better think again!" he said.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"I'll protect Meg, you get rid of these things"

Sora nodded.

Hikari quickly ran to Meg and stood in front of her.

"Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you" she said.

She would attack the heartless that would come by them before leading Meg away from the fight.

She figured that since Meg was tied up, she couldn't defend herself against the heartless and Pete.

When Sora and the others got rid of their batch of Heartless, they ran over towards them.

"Let's get out of here!" Sora said.

He broke the bonds that kept Meg tied up.

Pete glared at them and was about to send more heartless, but he landed flat on his face.

Hercules had stepped on Pete as ran to his friends.

"Sorry I'm late" he said.

He summoned Pegasus.

The winged horse stepped on Pete when he tried to get up, which resulted in the poor cat falling back on the ground.

Hercules picked up Meg and placed her on Pegasus.

"Get Meg outta here" he told the group.

"I'll meet you back at the Coliseum"

"What about you?" Hikari asked.

Hercules smiled.

"I'm going to show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero" he said.

The group nodded.

They knew Hercules could take care of himself.

They followed Pegasus as he flew back to the lower level of the cavern.

Pete was about to follow them, but Hercules block him.

He looked determined as he faced the giant cat and heartless.

/

When they all reached the lower level of the cavern, Meg looked at the group.

"I won't leave him" she said.

Hikari gave her a sympathetic look.

She didn't want to leave the one she loved most.

"He'll be ok" Sora said.

Meg looked serious.

"Look, even Herc has his limits" she said.

"He can't keep winning forever"

Hikari smiled.

"Then we'll go back him up" she said.

Donald looked at Pegasus.

"Get Meg out outta here!" he said.

The horse nodded and flew off.

They group quickly ran back to the upper level of the cavern to help Hercules.

/

It seemed that Hercules chew out more than he could handle.

Despite fighting with only a few heartless, he felt practically drained.

It seemed that all those fights without rest was taking its toll on him.

Pete noticed this and used that to his advantage.

If he fought the hero in his weakened state, he would become a heartless in no time.

He smiled at the idea, but frowned when he saw that his plans were ruined.

Hercules looked confused, but when he turned to his right, he smiled.

Sora and Hikari stood next to him with their keyblades drawn.

Pete just scoffed.

It didn't matter how many people he had to fight, he would win in the end.

They all charged at the cat.

"Let's see if you really do have nine lives" Hikari said.

They attacked him before the cat put up a barrier around him.

Pete just laughed as they tried to break the sphere.

Sora got a little crafty and hit the sphere like it was a golf ball and aimed it at Hercules.

The hero smashed the barrier with his brute strength alone.

Pete stumbled a bit before glaring at them.

"This place gives me the creeps" he said.

"I'll deal with you nitwits next time!"

He ran off like the coward that he was and left the Underworld for good.

No sooner did he leave did the cavern started to shake.

It seemed that from all of their fighting, the upper level lost its strength and was about to collapse.

Everyone ran for the lower level before they were crushed by the falling rocks.

They failed to notice that Hades was standing right behind them and was admiring everything that happened.

"Could today possibly get any better?" he asked himself.

"This time Wonder-breath is going down for good"

/

Everyone safely returned to the entrance to the Underworld.

Meg, Phil and Pegasus were waiting for them.

They looked relived to see that their friends were alive.

It was a joyous moment, but that was all ruined when an uninvited guest appeared.

"Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite hero washout"

They all turned around to see Hades coming towards them.

"You really blew it this time" he said.

Sora scoffed.

"No one likes a sore loser, Hades" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Just admit it. You lost" she said.

Hades glared at them.

"Can it!" he said.

Hercules walked up to him.

"Fine, then I'll say it" he said.

"No one likes a sore loser, Hades"

Hades just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yea, Styx and stones" he said.

He smirked darkly at Hercules.

"Hey, maybe you should go check on that Hydra you neglected to finish off" he suggested.

"I hear things are really FALLING APART up there, champ"

Hercules paled at that.

So he really didn't kill the Hydra.

He ran up the stairs that lead to the Coliseum.

Sora and the others ran after him, knowing that whatever was happening up there would not be good.

/

Hercules was devastated at the sight before him.

"This can't be" he said.

The whole Coliseum was in ruins thanks to the Hydra.

Just the sight of it made him fall to his knees.

Meg and Phil ran up to him.

"Champ! You're safe!" Phil said.

Hercules sadly looked at his trainer.

"I failed…" he said.

"It's not your fault" Meg said.

Hercules shook his head.

"I left everyone unprotected" he said.

He slammed his fists on the ground.

"Hades was right" he said.

"I'm just a…a washout"

"Aww, come on champ" Phil said.

"I didn't train you to think like that"

Sora and Hikari went up to him.

"Phil's right" Sora said.

"This is no time to beat yourself up" Hikari protested.

Hercules sadly looked at the Coliseum ruins.

"I'm some hero…" he said.

He lost his godly like aura.

Hikari sighed.

"_And guys say that women are more emotional than men. Yeah right!" _she thought.

Meg lead Hercules out of the way as the Hydra climbed out of the ruins.

Sora and Hikari looked at the nasty lizard and summoned their keyblades.

"Herc needs help!" Donald said.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah"

Phil suddenly came up to them.

"Don't suppose you got room for one more?" he asked.

Meg and Pegasus came to them as well.

"We're in!" Meg said.

The Hydra hissed at them as it closed in on them.

It swung its tail around to try to trip them, but they just jumped in response.

Whenever it lowered its head to the ground, they would attack it into submission.

Sora landed the finishing blow and sliced its head off.

"That should do it" he said.

The ground started to rumble and produced three hydra head from the ground.

It seemed that the body dug its neck into the ground to perform a surprise attack.

"Now what do we do?" Hikari said.

"Hey, Sora!" Phil cried.

He was on top of the Coliseum ruins.

"Get up on the Hydra's back!" he shouted.

Sora did as he was told and jumped up on the Hydra's back.

Phil pulled out a giant urn and tossed it to Sora.

The keyblade master jumped up and slammed the urn into the Hydra's back, causing it to pass out.

This was the perfect chance for Hikari, Donald and Goofy to get rid of them.

"Get rid of the heads before they wake up!" Hikari said.

They all ran to the nearest head and vanquished them before they could wake up.

They thought the fight was over then, but things just went from bad to worse when the Hydra lifted its neck up.

The lizard didn't produce not just three heads, but eight of them instead.

Hikari slammed her foot in the ground.

"Does this thing ever die!" she asked.

"This is getting ridiculous" Sora added.

They just focused on fighting the heads that were closest to the ground before they dealt with the higher ones.

As they vanquished the heads one by one, Hikari noticed that there was no way that they could attack the higher ones.

It seemed the Hydra picked up on their fighting skills and was purposely keeping the remainder of its heads out of reach.

"Now what?" Hikari asked.

Sora looked up and saw Pegasus flying around the area.

He suddenly got an idea and called the horse.

The winged horse heard this and came to their aid.

Sora grabbed Hikari's arm.

"Hand on" he said.

When Pegasus flew towards them, they jumped on his back.

Hikari held onto Sora tightly.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" she said.

Sora smirked at her.

"Just giving ourselves a little boost" he said.

"Now hang on"

Pegasus flew through the many heads of the Hydra.

Whenever they passed a head, Sora and Hikari would hack away at them with their keyblades.

They jumped off of Pegasus' back when they finished their flight and vanquished the Hydra once and for all.

"And stay down" Sora said.

Hikari was about to say something but she suddenly went into a fit of coughing.

She held her chest slightly as she coughed harshly.

Sora looked worriedly at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"Nothing" she rasped.

"Something must have gotten into my throat"

She didn't want to tell him that her heart acted up again.

It seemed it did that everything they fought a huge battle.

When the pain died away, they went over to where Hercules was.

The Hero was still upset over what happened.

"I let you down" he said.

"I'm just…no use"

Meg put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault" she said.

"Hey, even a god would be exhausted"

Sora nodded.

"She's right" he said.

"Give yourself a chance to rest"

Goofy tired to lighten the mood.

"There won't be any games for a while, anyway" he said.

Meg looked at them.

"Don't worry about Wonderboy" she said.

"I'll take care of him"

She smiled.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald, Goofy. I owe you big time" she said.

"Hey, it's no big deal" Sora said.

"Just let us know if Hades or the heartless start acting up. We'll take care of it" Hikari said.

"Yeah, that's what heroes are for" Donald said.

Meg raised an eyebrow.

"When did you four make hero?" she asked.

Sora laughed nervously.

"Let's save that for another time" he said.

"We have to hit the road"

He suddenly realized that he had the Olympus stone with him.

"Oh yeah, the Olympus stone"

He went to give it to Hercules, but it started glowing and floated in the air.

That meant it was the keyhole to this world.

Sora and Hikari summoned their keyblades and sealed the heart to this world for good.

With that, they wished Hercules luck and went off on their gummi ship.

/

**A/N: And yet, we have another long chapter. I hoped you guys liked this chapter. Sorry if I didn't have Auron in there for very long, but we'll see him again. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	10. Disney Castle

Chapter 10: Disney Castle

**A/N: Get ready to play the Mickey Mouse march because we're going to Disney Castle! (That song never gets old) **

**Just for the heads up, this chapter is going to be shorter than the other chapters because I want to focus on this world and not Timeless River.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Maleficent started out of her hide out back at Hollow Bastion.

Since being resurrected, she was furious to see that none of her followers were here to greet her return.

She looked at Pete from the corner of her eye.

"And where is everyone else?" She asked.

Pete shrugged nervously.

Even though he was glad that she was back, the sorceress still scared him senseless.

"Beats me" he said.

"They musta had some other matters to deal with"

"Matters?" Maleficent scoffed.

She looked at him.

"You mean they have more important affairs to attend to than my return?" she asked.

Pete rubbed his head.

"Well, see, there's this Organization Xlll that keeps getting in the way-"

"Let's those fools play their little game!" Maleficent replied.

Pete bit his lip.

"But what about those runts with the keybaldes?" he asked.

"They've been a real pain, too"

Maleficent growled and gripped her staff tightly.

She remembered that Hikari was the one who finished her off.

"_So Taiyouko's little brat is still on the loose?" _she thought.

"Oh, have they?" she asked.

She looked at her loyal follower.

"Very well, then" she said.

"I suppose you'd better tell me what's been happening during my absence"

"_Just what have you been up to, Hikari?"_

/

Off at Disney Castle, the radiant Queen Minnie stood in the castle's library.

She sighed as she tried to search for something.

"Hmm….now I wonder where that old album could be?" she said out loud.

"Queen Minne!"

"It's horrible!"

She turned around to see Chip and Dale running towards her.

The little chipmunks jumped around frantically.

"Something's wrong in the Hall of the Cornerstone!" Chip cried.

"There's real sharp thorns everywhere!" Dale added.

They lead their queen to the Cornerstone to showed her what happened.

Queen Minnie looked horrified at what she said.

She touched her wedding band and thought of her husband.

"Oh, King Mickey, I wish you could hear me" she said.

"The castle is in danger! We've got to do something soon!"

She looked up at the ceiling.

"Donald…Goofy….where are you?"

/

Hikari sighed as they sailed through their Gummi ship.

"_So Riku and the King weren't on that world either" _she thought.

She bit her lip as she looked out the window.

Even though it was the world that they went to, she was starting to become desperate.

She knew Riku could take care of himself, but she just worried that his heart would fall to the darkness again.

She didn't want to go through that nightmare again.

Not only that, but her mother was with him.

The two people that she loved most were off somewhere and she didn't know if they were ok.

It was scary not knowing if your loved ones were alright or not.

It made her feel helpless.

"_Riku…mom…please be safe" _she pleaded.

An alarm coming from the ship startled her.

Donald pushed a button to see that it was Chip and Dale trying to contact them.

"Guys! You have to come back to the Castle!" Chip cried.

"We need your help!" Dale added.

Donald and Goofy looked worried.

Did something happen while they were away?

They knew that their mission was to find the King and saved the worlds, but their world needed to be saved too.

Donald looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Sorry guys, but we have to make a slight detour" he said.

They both nodded.

"That's fine" Sora said.

"I'm sure you're both homesick anyway" Hikari added.

Donald looked grateful and steered their ship to Disney Castle.

/

Sora and Hikari admired the hanging dock when they landed.

"So this is your castle" Sora said.

"Must be nice to be home, huh?" Hikari asked.

Donald and Goofy simply looked around the area.

Something seemed off.

"Ya know, somethin' just doesn't feel quite right…." Goofy said.

"Yeah" Donald said.

Chip and Dale ran towards them.

"You're back!" Chip cried.

"Move it! Let's go!" Dale shouted.

"Queen Minnie needs to see you!"

The group went up to them in confusion.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"The Castle's in danger!" Dale cried.

"Hurry! To the library!"

They quickly ran from the hanger and ended up in the Castle gardens.

"Wow, this place is beautiful" Hikari said.

Donald just pushed her towards the library.

"No time for sightseeing!" he said.

"We need to see what's wrong!"

A heartless suddenly popped up in front of them.

"I think I might know what it is" Sora said.

Donald and Goofy panicked and pulled out their weapons.

"What are the heartless doing here?" Donald cried.

Sora and Hikari pulled out their keyblades and helped their friends out.

They slashed at a group of heartless before looking at them.

"We'll take care of this" Sora said.

"Just take us to the library"

Donald and Goofy nodded.

They lead the way while the keyblade masters got rid of their heartless problem.

Hikari tried to play it easy.

She didn't know why her heart was acting up, but she knew it was connected to her fighting.

If she didn't fight as hard as she was doing, then maybe she wouldn't have problems.

"_But I can't let up" _she thought.

"_I need to get rid of their heartless and seal the keyholes. That's my duty as a keyblade mistress and a sorceress"_

Donald and Goofy brought them to the library after much struggle with the heartless.

They stood proudly before their queen.

"You're Majesty, Queen Minnie! We're back!" Donald ordered.

Minnie looked so relived.

"You're here!" she said.

"You're Royal Highness, did ya happen to summon us?" Goofy asked.

Sora casually walked up to his friends.

"Where's the King?" he asked.

Minnie simply blinked at him in confusion.

Donald and Goofy panicked.

Did Sora have to be so rude at times?

They quickly grabbed him and dragged him down so he was kneeling.

"Excuse him" Donald said.

"This is our friend, Sora"

Hikari panicked as well.

"Sora, you idiot!" she said.

She quickly knelt down and bowed to Minnie.

"Forgive him, your Highness" she said.

"My name is Hikari, and I apologize for my friend's rude behavior"

Minnie gasped.

"Sora and Hikari?" she asked.

She quickly walked up to them.

"The King told me all about you two in his letters" she said.

She looked at Sora.

"He said you're a very brave young man"

She smiled at Hikari.

"And he said you were a very brave young woman and that you're the spitting image of your mother"

Hikari looked surprised.

"You know my mom, your Majesty?" she asked.

Minnie nodded.

"Taiyouko was a very skilled sorceress" she said.

"And judging from what the King told me, so are you"

She smiled.

"It's an honor to meet you"

Hikari blushed and waved her hands.

"I-it's an honor to meet you as well, your Majesty and I'm flattered"

Sora looked at him.

"Do you by some chance know where the King is?" he asked.

Minnie shook her head.

They group let their heads hang for a bit.

Donald looked at his queen.

"Your Majesty, what are the Heartless doing in your castle?" he asked.

Minnie looked at them.

"Oh my…so those are the heartless" she said.

Sora wore a proud smirk.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of them" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Donald and Goofy have help us out a lot on our journey, this is the least we can for them" she said.

Minnie smiled at them.

"I know I can count on you two" she said.

"Now there's something I'd like all of you to come and see. Would you please escort me to the audience chamber?"

The group stood up proudly and saluted her.

Minnie smiled but gasped when she realized something.

"I forgot to warn everyone else in the castle about the danger!" she said.

"We must be sure they're hidden somewhere safe!"

Sora pumped his fist.

"Ok, we'll go tell them" he said.

Donald shook his head.

"The whole castle?" he asked.

"We just gotta split up, Donald" Goofy said.

Sora smiled.

"I'll go make sure that everyone knows what's going on" he said.

Donald shook his head.

"No, Sora. You'll just get lost" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"He's right. You do have a bad sense of directions" she admitted.

Sora pouted slightly.

"Okay, then Hikari and I will stay with the Queen" he said.

"Good" Donald said.

Goofy waved at them.

"All righty then, see ya later!"

They both ran out of the library and left Sora and Hikari with Minnie.

Hikari looked at the Queen.

"Um, the audience chamber, right your Majesty?" she asked.

Minnie nodded.

"That's right" she said.

"Let's be on our way"

Sora lead the group while Hikari took the back.

They weren't going to let anything happen to the Queen.

/

The heartless were waiting for them when they came out of the library.

Sora and Hikari quickly attacked them so they wouldn't hurt Queen Minnie.

They didn't think that she was capable of fighting, but they soon found out that they were wrong.

Minnie used magic to get rid of the heartless and helped the Keyblade masters out.

Sora and Hikari were stunned, but they shook it off.

Now wasn't the time to be amazed by a fighting queen.

When they made it to the doors of the audience chambers, they stopped.

They noticed that a barrier was covering over the grand doors.

"Just a moment" Minnie said.

She held up her hand and removed the barrier.

"As soon as the trouble started, I made sure to seal this room" she said.

When the door opened, she looked at them.

"Now then….shall we?" she asked.

They both nodded.

"Of course, your Majesty"

They walked in first just to make sure the cost was clear.

Everything was fine when they looked, but once they stepped in, that's when the heartless appeared.

"Not here, too!" Minnie cried.

"We got them" Sora said.

Sora cleared a path for them while Hikari stayed close to Minnie.

She led her to the King's throne while Sora got rid of their heartless problem.

She would help out too and get rid of the stragglers that got past Sora.

When they made it to the throne, they noticed that the heartless were still multiplying.

"Come on, give us a break" Sora said.

Minnie went up to the King's throne and searched for something.

She pressed something that was under one of the arms of the seat and smiled when she hit a button.

The throne started to shake and slowly moved to the side.

The ground that was covered by the throne before suddenly glowed with light and blinded the whole area.

When the light died down, the keyblade masters noticed that the heartless were gone.

"Wow" Hikari said.

She looked to see that there was a secret pathway that was covered by the throne.

Minnie walked up to the stairs that led down.

"This room is called the 'Hall of the Cornerstone'" she said.

"Our castle has always been safe from worlds that are evil…thanks to the Cornerstone of Light which we keep down there"

Sora and Hikari walked up to Minnie.

"The Cornerstone…of Light?" Sora asked.

"It sounds really powerful" Hikari said.

They followed Minnie down the stairs where the Cornerstone resided.

/

When Hikari was the Cornerstone, she gasped.

There in the center of the room, was a great sphere of light that glowed brilliantly.

It didn't matter that the whole area was surrounded by dark thorns or that darkness was everywhere.

This was the true power of light.

Donald and Goofy finally warned everyone in the castle and caught up to them.

Minnie stood in front of the Cornerstone.

"This is the castle's cherished Cornerstone" she said.

"But look"

She ushered to the dark thorns that covered the area.

"The thorns. They must be the work of someone very evil" she said.

"I wonder what this could mean…"

Sora and Hikari walked over to Minnie.

They too could sense the darkness coming from the thorns.

Who could do such a thing?

Green flames erupted in front of the Cornerstone and transformed into Maleficent.

It was just a transparent version of herself, but it was still her.

Hikari gasped.

What was she doing here?

She was supposed to be dead. She was the one who destroyed her after all.

"Maleficent?"

The evil sorceress turned to them and grinned darkly.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" she said.

"If it isn't the wretched keyblade wielders and their pitiful lackeys"

Donald took offense to that.

"What? Now you're gonna deal with me!" he said.

He charged at her, but he just went through her and bashed his head against the Cornerstone.

Hikari growled at her.

"What are you doing here, Maleficent?"

The sorceress laughed at her.

"If it isn't Taiyouko's little brat" she said.

"I told you that you couldn't defeat me. It doesn't matter if you're Taiyouko's daughter, you still don't have the power to destroy me"

Hikari glared at her.

"This coming from the witch who couldn't control the darkness in her heart and met her demise by a mere girl?" she asked.

"You're nothing but talk. I beat you once, I can do it again"

Maleficent glared at her, but quickly composed herself.

"All in good time" she said.

"I promise I'll let you partake of my vengeance. But you must be patient"

"Just what are you doing here, Maleficent?" Minnie asked.

Maleficent looked at her and gave her a mocked bow.

"Ah, Queen Minnie. Radiant as always" she said.

She smiled evilly at the queen.

"I'm here on a proper venture" she said.

"I want this castle for my own"

She walked up to the Cornerstone.

"However, it's a bit too 'bright' for what I have in mind" she said.

"I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my personal touch of darkness"

She went to touch the Cornerstone, but the light zapped her away.

Minnie glared at Maleficent.

"You better stop right now if you know what's good for you!" she warned.

"Ohh, how frightening" Maleficent said sarcastically.

She sighed.

"Very well. I'll stop…just as soon as this castle belongs to me!"

She disappeared laughing.

"What a hag" Sora said.

Hikari scowled at where Maleficent once stood.

She couldn't believe that she was still alive.

She hated that woman so much. It was thanks to her that Riku gave into the darkness.

She curled her hand into a fist.

She had to destroy that witch before she ruined more lives.

Minnie looked at the ground sadly.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before" she said.

"I looked through all the records in the library, but I couldn't find a single clue"

This was a problem.

If they didn't have lead as to how to fix this, then they were stumped.

Goofy suddenly came up with an idea.

"We should go ask somebody who knows lotsa stuff that ain't in any book!" he said.

Hikari quickly caught on who Goofy was talking to.

"Merlin the Wizard!" she said.

Minnie smiled at the idea.

"Perfect" she said.

"Merlin might know something about this mess. Let's ask his advice"

Goofy looked at the group.

"We saw him at Hollow Bastion, right?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. He's helping Ni-san with the Restoration Committee"

"Then let's head over there" Sora said.

He looked at Minnie.

"We'll be back" he said.

Minnie nodded.

"Please hurry" she said.

They quickly ran back to the hanger and hyper drive to Hollow Bastion.

/

They quickly ran into Merlin's home to see the place empty.

"Anybody home?" Sora asked.

"Merlin!" Donald cried.

"The Castle's in danger!" Goofy shouted.

The old wizard appeared before them.

"What is all the racket?" he asked.

He noticed the group.

"Ho-ho! I thought-oh, it's you" he said.

"It looks like you've both learned a bit since the last time that I saw you"

"Really?" Hikari asked.

"Wait a minute!" Donald said.

"Let's talk about the problem! It's Maleficent! She's back!"

Merlin paled.

"Where? Inside the castle?" he asked.

"Yep! And heartless too!" Goofy said.

Merlin sighed.

"Oh dear…" he said.

Donald started telling him about the situation, but he didn't realize that the wizard magically brought them back to the castle.

"Perhaps, I'd better just see for myself" Merlin said.

He walked up to the Cornerstone and examined it.

He frowned.

"This is not good" he said.

"In fact, I'm afraid, it's quite serious"

He walked off to the side and magically summoned a door.

"What's that?" Hikari asked.

"My dear, that is a gateway to a special world" Merlin said.

"Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I'm certain"

Goofy smiled.

"We knew we could count on you, Merlin" he said.

Sora went up to the door and grabbed the handles.

"Then we should go get him!" he said.

"Wait a moment!" Merlin said.

"The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemy is utilizing that door. As long as it remains open, the castle is in grave danger"

He looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Listen you two" he said.

"You must find that door. And when you do-lock it with your keyblades"

Sora nodded.

"Got it" he said.

"You can count on us" Donald said.

"Now one more thing" Merlin said.

"You're heading into a very special world. While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You'll know soon enough" Merlin said.

"I have faith in you all"

They nodded at the Wizard and headed for the door.

When Sora opened it, they were all sucked into the world within the castle.

/

**A/N: Hope you guys are ready for the next chapter, because we're going old school! **

**It's sure going to be weird seeing everything black and white, but then again, it should be cool.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	11. Timeless River

Chapter 11: Timeless River

**A/N: Now we get to see everyone in an old school fashion. How will they deal with going in the past? Will they be tempted to try to change it? Or will they follow orders and do what they're told?**

**I also finally posted Ankoku, Tsukiko and Taiyouko's images on my Deviantart account.**

**I also have a poll for you guys to vote on. Since I'm doing the Atlantica world next, do you want to see Hikari sing a song on that world? **

**Please vote!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

When the doors opened up on the other side, the group fell out and landed on each other.

Hikari groaned and opened her eyes.

When she saw the scenery, she gasped.

Everything was in black and white.

They weren't in the castle anymore, but were instead out in some sort of meadow.

"Hey, look. There's the Cornerstone of light" Goofy said.

Sure enough, the Cornerstone of light stood proudly in the middle of the meadow.

When Hikari got up, she finally looked at her friends.

She was surprised to see them look all retro and old fashioned.

Sora looked more cartoonish and sported his original outfit from their first journey while Donald and Goofy looked like they were from very old cartoons.

Hikari looked at herself and noticed that she was back in the outfit she wore on their first journey.

"Aww man, I thought I would never see this hideous outfit again" she said.

Sora was amazed by the scenery as well.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Everything is all black and white"

Donald and Goofy looked at themselves.

Donald looked a little frazzled as he checked himself out.

"Hey, this is kind of like…um….uh"

"Déjà vu?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah" Donald replied.

Sora and Hikari looked at them.

"Really?" Hikari asked.

"You mean you've guys been here before?" Sora added.

Just then, a retro version of Pete came up to them.

He didn't wear the fancy outfit like the one they saw him in, but instead wore a set of overalls that only had one strap buttoned up.

He looked at the group and walked up to them.

"Hey, you" he said.

"Seen any bad guys running around here?"

They all pointed their fingers at him.

Pete took offensive to that.

"Why I oughta" he said.

He looked like he was about to fight, but thought better of it.

"I don't have time to waste on punks like you. So I guess I'll go easy" he said.

He ran off to a place that said the piers.

"Well, there's our villain" Hikari said.

They ran after Pete before the evil cat could do anything worse to this world.

/

When they caught up to him, they saw him standing near the docks.

He appeared to be looking for something, but they didn't want him to find whatever it was.

When they walked up to him, he glared at them.

"What's with you guys?" he asked.

"You got some bone to pick with me?"

"More than one" Sora replied.

Pete glared at him.

"Them's fightin' words!" he said.

He brandished a fist at them.

He was about to hit Sora, but when he heard a boat whistle, he stopped.

He looked down the lake for a sec and started to walk off.

The group got in front of him and pulled out their weapons.

"Not so fast" Hikari said.

Pete held up his fists in a fighting matter.

When they were fighting with Pete, they noticed he wasn't as outgoing with his fights as he was before.

Or rather, he wasn't as crafty.

He was really clumsy and he would take their hits badly, even when he blocked them.

When the fight was over Pete glared at him.

"What do you punks have beef with me anyway?" he asked.

He studied them for a moment.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"You new around here?"

Sora scoffed.

"Cut the act" he said.

The sound of a boat whistle could be heard again.

Pete jumped up and was about to run off, but his back gave out on him and he fell flat on his butt.

Hikari raised an eyebrow at him.

Goofy came up to Sora and Hikari.

"Ya know- something doesn't seem quite right here" he said.

He looked at Pete.

"Are you sure you're Pete?"

Pete glared at them.

"Well, of course I'm Pete-I'm the captain of the steamboat" he said.

"So stop bothering me!"

He stood up painfully.

"So hit the road" he said.

"I gotta go find the little runt what's stole my boat!"

The group looked away from Pete and huddled together.

"Gawrsh, maybe we made a mistake" Goofy said.

Hikari looked at Pete more closely and started to make that conclusion.

If this was the Pete that they met before, he would have known who they were and fought with them right away.

And she was certain that he wouldn't be focused on finding a boat while here.

"I'm starting to think the same thing" Hikari said.

Sora and Donald nodded.

"He hasn't even called any heartless" Sora added.

Goofy went up to Pete.

"Sorry we attacked you like that, Captain Pete" he said.

Pete glared at them.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Well if you're really sorry, then go find my steamboat!"

They nodded.

It was the least they could do for him.

"Yes sir" Sora said.

They headed back to where the Cornerstone was to see if they could find any clues.

/

"I thought for sure Pete was the bad guy" Sora said.

"It was a possibility" Hikari said.

"He's been giving us trouble since we started this journey"

"Aw, that would be too easy" Donald said.

"C'mon fellas" Goofy said.

"Let's try to find that steamboat"

Sora rubbed his head.

"I guess we DID saw we would" he said.

Donald stomped his foot in frustration.

"Hey! We've got a door to find!" he said.

Hikari looked around.

"I don't see any doors" she said.

Sora looked around and saw something up ahead.

"What's that?"

They went up to it and saw it was a small floating theater of some kind.

The curtains were closed, so they couldn't see what was inside.

" I can't see a thing…" Sora said.

Donald pulled on this rope that was hanging on the side and pulled the screen back.

They saw heartless going through these little theaters as well and disappeared just as they came to this world.

They saw themselves talking about the Cornerstone of Light and mulling over their retro looks.

The screen went blank when it was over.

"What was that?" Hikari asked.

"Heartless, goin' out…" Goofy said.

"…and us coming in" Donald finished.

Sora looked confused.

"What does this mean?" he asked.

Hikari looked over across the meadow and saw the four mini theaters.

"Let's get rid of those heartless" she said.

"Then what'll we do?" Goofy asked.

"We'll worry about that later" Sora said.

They went over to the first theater and wound up in some sort of construction site.

/

They all stood on some sort of scaffolding.

It seemed like people were constructing something, including the building they were all standing on.

"What are they building?" Hikari asked.

They carefully walked on the support beam they were on and looked around.

Just then, a heartless appeared behind them.

"Look out!" Goofy cried.

Sora and Hikari were about to summon their keyblades, but a very familiar person came to their rescue.

Mickey came swinging on a rope and knocked the heartless off before landing on an upper level.

Everyone was surprised to see him in retro form as well.

"The King!" Donald cried.

Mickey smiled at them and waved.

He didn't even say anything to them.

"Gee, he seems kinda different somehow…"Goofy said.

Hikari looked up and saw a set of heartless.

"Heartless! I knew it!" she said.

The heartless jumped off and came down to their level.

Everyone pulled out their weapons and faced them.

"Now let's go get those heartless!" Sora said.

While they were fighting, they had to be very careful.

Since they were on a support beam, the board they were on would move around with their movement and would tip over sometimes or would act like a catapult and shot them up in the air.

When the heartless were gone, the scaffolding was steady enough for everyone to stand on it again.

Sora pumped his fist.

"How do you like that?" he said.

"That'll show them" Hikari added.

Mickey ran up to them and shook their hands before running off.

Goofy found a mini theater floating on the scaffolding.

"Hey look" he said.

They went over to it and pulled the room that controlled the screen.

When the screen went up, they saw the little movie it provided.

/

_The scene opened up with Maleficent looked angry._

"_You absolute idiot!" she said._

"_You've managed to fail at everything!"_

_She turned around to face the person._

"_And what's more…you foolishly thought you could take my place while I was away" she said._

"_Well, as of now, you're finished"_

_She glared at the person._

"_Mark my words, there'll be no place for you when our time comes!"_

_She turned away._

"_Useless imbecile!"_

_She walked away._

_That's when the person revealed to be Pete._

"_But-but …but I…" he said._

_Maleficent just ignored him and walked away._

/

When the movie was over, the group went back to where the Cornerstone was.

Everyone was confused over what they just saw.

"What in the world was that just now?" Hikari asked.

"Somebody sure was angry" Goofy said.

Donald shook his head.

"I don't understand" he said.

Sora just shrugged.

"Let's just try to clear the heartless out first" he said.

"We've got three more places that need our help"

They went to the next theater panel and wound up in some sort of town with a giant cannon in the center.

The group noticed that they were like giants compared to the place.

"The town's shrunk!" Sora said.

"Or it could be that we got bigger" Hikari said.

They spotted the cannon that stood in the center.

"Check out the toy cannon!" Sora said.

They went up to it for a closer look.

Just then, Mickey ran up to them and was jumping around frantically.

He didn't say anything, but just waved his hands around.

"What's he saying?" Hikari asked.

Mickey pointed behind them and showed that there were heartless all over the place.

"Heartless!" Sora cried.

They started attacking the heartless before the town could be destroyed by them.

It seemed that the toy cannon proved to be helpful because whenever they used it, it would shoot cannon balls at the heartless and finish them off with one shot.

When the town was free of the heartless, Mickey went up to Sora and Hikari and shook their hands before running off.

Goofy found another floating theater near the cannon and activated it.

They watched another movie that seemed to be about Pete.

/

_Pete still stood where he was after Maleficent left._

"_Oh, for crying out loud…she didn't have to say that" he said._

"_Okay, I messed up every now and then…but I'm a lot more things than useless…"_

_He sniffled a tiny bit._

"_Why, when I was startin' out…oh…I miss those good ol' days….what I wouldn't give to go back in time…what I wouldn't give…"_

_He sniffled a bit more._

_Just then, a bright light appeared out of the corner of his eyes._

"_Huh?"_

_He turned around to see a silver door off to the side._

_He went up to it and opened it up._

_When he saw what was on the other side, he gasped._

"_Hey, I think that's my…."_

/

Sora crossed his arms in thought.

"A door?" he asked.

"It does look familiar" Donald admitted.

Goofy nodded.

"Yup-it's the door Merlin magic'd up" he said.

"So it could come straight here, right?" Hikari asked.

"Sure!" Goofy said.

"I think…"

"Let's see if we can find any more clues" Sora said.

They went through the next portal and appeared at a building that was on fire.

"Fire!" Hikari cried.

They saw Mickey was trying to put the fire out, but was having trouble doing so.

"Come on! He needs our help!" Sora said.

They were about to help him, but heartless appeared in front of them.

"Aw, come on!" Sora said.

Hikari looked at him.

"Donald and I can try to put out the fire while you and Goofy take care of the heartless" she said.

Sora nodded and teamed up with Goofy while Hikari teamed up with Donald.

"Let's put this fire out before it burns the place down" she said.

They put out the fire from the windows before they took care of the ones that were burning outside.

Every now and then a heartless would sneak past Sora and tried to attack them, but they managed to fend them off before rescuing the building.

When the fires were put out, Mickey ran up to them and shook Sora and Hikari's hand again before running off.

"Well, that takes care of that" Sora said.

They found another floating theater screen and watched another clip from Pete's memories.

/

_Pete has brought Maleficent over to show what he found._

_The evil sorceress looked amazed at what she saw on the other side of the door._

"_Fascinating" she said._

"_This appears to be a portal to the past!"_

_Pete nodded._

"_Yeah. It was the strangest thing!" he said._

_Maleficent glared at him._

"_Stop gawking!" she said._

"_And start thinking of a way we could use it to our advantage"_

_Pete nodded._

"_Okay" she said._

_Maleficent looked at him._

"_Now, perhaps I could give you one more chance to redeem yourself" she said._

_Pete looked relieved._

"_Oh, thank you! Thank you!" he said._

"_You can count on me!...so what do I do?"_

_Maleficent looked back at the door._

"_Patience , my dear" she said._

_She smiled darkly._

"_What have we here?" she asked._

"_Well if it isn't the Cornerstone of Light….hmmm…now we can take that castle from those fools-but we'll have to proceed with the utmost of care…"_

/

"Maleficent!" Donald cried.

"She must have known all along!" Hikari said.

Goofy mulled this over.

"Let's see…if that door's connected to the past…"

Donald shook his head.

"No, no, no! It comes here" he said.

Sora looked confused.

"Huh?"

Hikari and Goofy caught on to what Donald was saying.

"Then that means we're in the past!" Goofy said.

Sora looked amazed.

"Wow" he said.

"If we're in the past…"

"…we can change the future!" Donald added.

Hikari whacked Donald upside the head.

"You idiot!" she said.

"Remember what Merlin said? He has faith in us, and we have to resist temptation no matter what!"

Sora and Donald laughed nervously.

"Aw, I was just joking" Donald said.

"Who'd want to change the future anyway?" Sora asked.

He placed his hands behind his head.

"So…what are we gonna do?" he asked.

Goofy rubbed his head.

"Doors, bad guys…my brain hurts" he said.

"Well, we know we're on the right track" Donald said.

They went to the last portal that led them to someone's house.

/

When they arrived at the house, they saw that Mickey was already there.

"This must be his house" Hikari said.

They saw this great big black portal in the middle of the room and it seemed to be sucking everything within it.

Mickey ran around the room, trying desperately to keep everything from being sucked in.

"Come on! He needs our help!" Sora said.

They helped out by trying to close the portal using magic.

They had to do this a couple of times before they closed the portal completely.

When they did, Mickey went up to Sora and Hikari and shook their hands once again before running off.

"Why does he keep doing that?" Hikari asked.

They found another floating theater and saw the last bit of Pete's memories.

/

_Maleficent gave Pete a serious look._

"_Listen well" she said._

"_On the other side of this portal, they're about to begin construction on that wretched castle. But until then, their treasured Cornerstone of Light lies unguarded, with all of its power still contained!"_

_Pete looked at the door._

"_The Cornerstone…of Light?" he asked._

"_Yes!" Maleficent said._

"_That cursed sphere is the very thing that prevents us from entering the castle"_

"_Oh" Pete said._

"_You know what must be done?" Maleficent asked._

_Pete nodded._

"_Go then" Maleficent said._

"_Time to prove your worth! And don't dare to fail me again!"_

_She walked off to let Pete ponder over this._

"_Don't fail her…again" he said._

_He suddenly came up with an idea._

"_I just gotta smash that Cornerstone to smithereens!"_

_He laughed at the idea and headed for the door._

"_But first…I gotta go get my old boat back"_

/

"It was Pete after all!" Sora said.

"Why, he tricked us!" Donald said.

"Still, something doesn't seem right" Goofy pointed out.

Hikari mulled this over.

"The Pete we met here had kind of an attitude, but he didn't seem like a bad guy…" she said.

Donald looked over to the waterway and saw someone.

"Look!"

They all looked and saw the future Pete standing there.

He laughed darkly over something.

"Now that castle's as good as ours!" he said.

He ran towards the waterway.

"That's the Pete we know!" Sora said.

Goofy suddenly gasped.

"Oh no!"

He pointed to where the Cornerstone was, only to show that it was gone.

"The Cornerstone's gone!" Hikari cried.

"But that means…" Donald said.

"They're gonna fill the castle with darkness!" Goofy cried.

"We gotta hurry!"

They saw the past Pete running towards the waterway.

The cat held his chest as he wheezed.

"Hey, hold it right there!" Sora said.

The past Pete glared at him.

"No way, small fry!" he said.

"I finally found the pipsqueak what stole my steamboat!"

"Yeah! It was you!" Donald said.

The past Pete nodded.

"Right me!" he said.

He realized what he said and shook his head.

"No, no! It wasn't me! It's just somebody who looks like me!"

He quickly ran towards the waterway.

"Oh, which one is it?" Sora asked.

"Let's go after him and find out" Hikari said.

They ran towards the waterway to see what the past Pete was talking about.

/

"Waaait!"

"Shut up!"

The group saw the past Pete and present Pete fighting over some type of boat with the Cornerstone hanging from the back.

The present Pete shoved the past one.

"Your future's on the line, pallie, so back off and give me the boat!" the present Pete said.

He gave the past Pete a right hook punch and sent him flying.

"Wow, seeing the two Pete's together like this, I have to say that the past one is a lot slimmer than the present one" Hikari said.

"He must have really let himself go by being with Maleficent"

They saw the present Pete jump on the boat with the Cornerstone attached to it.

"The Cornerstone!" Donald cried.

"After him!" Sora cried.

They watched as Pete started up the boat.

He just laughed as he saw the group trying to chase after him.

"Later loser!" he cried.

They watched as he started swimming off down the current.

"Time to go fishing" Hikari said.

She used her magic and created chains of light and hooked them to the back of the boat.

"Heave Ho!"

She and the others tugged on the chains and brought the boat back.

Pete glared at them.

"Hey! Back off!" he said.

Sora just whacked him with his keyblade and knocked him out.

"Shut up" he said.

While Pete was knocked out, they tried breaking the cage the Cornerstone was in.

Sora grabbed onto the hook that was connected to the boat and pried the top off with his keyblade while the others took out the bars.

When they finally broke the cage, Pete fell into the water.

The cat glared at them and held up a fist.

"You'll pay for this!"

He didn't realize the boat was behind him, so when it floated alongside him, it decked him in the back of the head and dazed him.

"Actually, I think it's you who's going to pay" Hikari said.

They pulled the boat back towards them while Pete made his escape.

They put the Cornerstone somewhere safe so they could chase after Pete.

"He's heading for the doorway!" Goofy cried.

They chased after him until they made it into town.

/

They feared that it might have been too late to stop Pete, but they were surprised to see the past Pete fighting with the present one.

The present one punched the past one square in the face and sent him flying.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow , ow!" The past one cried.

The present one scoffed.

"Ha! You're still wet behind the ears!" he said.

They group faced him and gripped their weapons.

"Then try us!" Sora said.

The past Pete ran up to them and held up his fists.

"_The past Pete is going to help us fight the present one?" _Hikari thought.

She shrugged.

"_Oh well, we need all the help we can get"_

Even thought the past Pete wasn't a really god fighter, he was able to break through the present Pete's shields whenever he activated them.

It seemed that the present Pete picked up a few things from their last encounter and used that to his advantage.

It really didn't bother Sora and Hikari since they always had a few tricks up their sleeves.

If they couldn't attack him normally, they would just use magic or go into Valor form.

They would get the upper hand at few times, but whenever the present Pete felt like he was about to lose, he would send them to one of the portals that lead them to other parts of this world and use their surroundings to his advantage.

It didn't matter where they went, Sora and Hikari would always find a way to beat Pete using their surroundings.

When they finally managed to beat him, he glared at them and summoned the door that he came through.

"The door!" Donald cried.

The past Pete held up his fist when he saw the present one going through it.

"Yeah! And stay out!" he said.

When the door was closed, Sora and Hikari held out their keyblades and locked the door for good so Maleficent wouldn't use it again.

The past Pete went up to them.

"Would somebody tell me what's going on here?" he asked.

"Who was that creep, anyways?"

Sora looked at him as if he was stupid.

"Hello? That creep was you from the fu-"

Goofy quickly covered his mouth before he could say anymore.

"Sora! That's a secret!" he said.

Pete tilted his head.

"Secret?" he asked.

"What secret?"

He shook his head.

"Oh never mind" he said.

"Sorry I put you guys through all that trouble"

"Yeah, well, just don't make a habit out of it" Hikari said.

Pete looked confused at that, but shrugged it off.

"And to show you my appreciation, I'll let you pilot my steamboat" Pete said.

"Best little craft on the river. My deck hand Mickey's late anyways"

/

And so, out heroes enjoyed their reward by steering the steamboat back towards where the meadow was.

They had to return the Cornerstone somehow.

Sora smiled as he steered the boat while Donald blew the horns.

Hikari looked out at the view and smiled.

Her mind wandered over where Mickey might be.

"_I guess he's probably off helping other people out" _she thought.

Little did she know, that Mickey was on the raft with the Cornerstone and enjoyed the ride.

/

The group smiled when they placed the Cornerstone back where it belonged.

"I betcha the castle's safe now" Goofy said.

"Guess we should head back" Sora said.

"Wait!" Donald said.

"As long as we're here…"

The group glared at him when they realized what he was talking about.

"Donald" they said.

Sora and Goofy dragged him towards the door while Hikari opened it.

They swung the duck a little and flung him through the door before following him.

/Back at the Castle, Merlin and Queen Minnie saw the thorns disappearing.

"The thorns have disappeared!" Minnie said.

"By George!" Merlin cried.

"They accomplished their mission!"

Chip and Dale jumped up and down.

"Hurray!" Chip cried.

"Let's have an acorn fest to celebrate!" Dale said.

The doors opened and out came Sora and the others.

Hikari sighed with relief when she saw color again.

"Yay! I'm in my new outfit!" she said.

Minnie smiled at them.

"Welcome back!" she said.

"Because of your bravery, the castle is safe and protected again. Thank you so much for what you've done"

Merlin looked at them seriously.

"Now, I hope you didn't do anything reckless while you were there?" he said.

Donald smiled.

"Of course not!" he said.

The others snorted knowing that he was lying.

Donald glared at them, but noticed someone standing near the door to the Cornerstone.

A female duck slowly walked over to them, unsure about what was going on.

Donald's face lit up when he saw her.

"Daisy!" he cried.

"Daisy, I'm back!"

They watched as Donald went up to her.

"Who?" Sora asked.

"Daisy is Donald's very special sweetheart" Goofy said.

Hikari smiled softly.

It seemed that even Donald has a special someone.

Donald smiled at his girlfriend, but frowned when he saw her scowling at him.

"Donald, you forgot our date again!" she said.

"You better have a good excuse this time!"

Donald gulped slightly.

"But Daisy…I…" he said.

Daisy placed her hands on her hips.

"I know it's an important mission, but you could at least check in every once in a while" she said.

Donald looked at his friends helplessly.

"You guys" he said.

He looked at the door.

An idea suddenly popped into his head.

"Donald" Merlin warned.

Donald bowed to him.

"Just be a minute…"

He was about to run for the door, but Daisy stopped him.

"Going somewhere?" she asked.

Donald ran from her.

"Of course not!"

Daisy ran after him while the others laughed.

Just then, the Cornerstone glowed brightly.

Sora and Hikari knew that this was connected to the keyhole and quickly sealed it.

After they did that, they went over to Daisy.

"Daisy, we need Donald for just a bit longer" Sora said.

Daisy looked at them sadly.

"How much longer?" she asked.

Donald went up to his girlfriend.

"I'll be back soon, Daisy!" he said.

They went over to Queen Minnie.

"Don't you worry, Queen Minnie. We'll return" Goofy said.

Minnie smiled.

"Please tell the King we're still looking for him" Hikari said.

Minnie smiled.

"I will"

She pulled something out from her dress.

"And this is to show you my gratitude"

She handed them a sphere, which unlocked the Wisdom form for Sora and Hikari.

Hikari smiled at Minnie.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty" she said.

Minnie smiled sweetly at her.

"There's no need to be formal anymore" she said.

"After all, we're friends now. Just call me Minnie"

Hikari blushed at that.

"I-if you insist Your Maje-I mean, Minnie" she said.

The inhabitants waved at the group as they left.

As they were walking, Hikari realized that her heart didn't act up at all.

"_That's odd. I wonder why that didn't happen?"_

When she looked at the Cornerstone, she sensed a protective aura coming from it.

"_Did the Cornerstone protect me?" _

She smiled thoughtfully at that.

"_The power of light is so mysterious" _

On that note, she had a slight skip to her step as they headed back to the Gummi Ship.

/

**A/N: And there you have it. I hoped you guys liked everyone being in the past.**

**Please review and tell me what you think, and please respond to my poll!**

**Ja ne!**


	12. Atlantica: Swim This Way

Chapter 12: Atlantica: Swim This Way

**A/N: Well, you guys voted Hikari should sing in this story and sing she shall. Since I'm a huge Final Fantasy fan, I'm going to be using the songs from that series. I'll let you vote on which song she should sing next if you like.**

**I hope you like the song Hikari sings in this chapter, I thought it reflected her mood with her whole quest to find Riku. I recommend you listen to it on YouTube.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or the song that is used in this chapter; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!  
**/

As Sora sailed their Gummi Ship to another world, Hikari took this as an opportunity to take a little nap.

Since they had been fighting heartless nonstop, she really didn't get the chance to rest.

She sighed contently as she closed her eyes to catch some 'Z's.

/

_Hikari ran through the corridors of the castle one day and didn't pay attention to where she was going._

_As she ran, she bumped into someone and fell down._

_Even; the scientist of the castle glared at her._

"_Watch where you're going, Hikari" he snapped._

_Hikari flinched at his voice and scooted away from him._

_Even just sneered at her._

"_You may be Taiyouko's daughter, but that doesn't give you the right to do whatever you want"_

_Tears welled up in Hikari's eyes as she looked at him._

_Out of all of the people who worked here at the castle, Even scared her the most._

_The scientist continued to scowl at her._

"_Don't tell me you're going to cry?" he asked._

_When Hikari tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, Even just sighed._

"_What in the world am I going to do with you?" he asked himself._

_Hikari was about to sob and call out for her mom, but someone came over and scooped her into their arms._

_Hikari looked up and saw it was her dad._

_His face was still blurred out, but she could tell it was him._

"_Daddy" she said._

_Her father turned to Even and seemed to glare at the scientist._

_Even shrunk back from the look._

"_I-I didn't know you would be here,-"_

_The name was blurred out as well, but she knew that was her father's name._

_Her dad just continued to glare at him._

"_Of course I would be here. This is where I work" he said._

_He held his daughter tightly._

"_And if I find you harassing my daughter like that again, I'll ask the Master to experiment on you next"_

_Even gulped and hurriedly walked away._

_Hikari's father rubbed her back as he walked down the hall._

_Hikari just snuggled into her father's chest and let him carry her._

_He kissed the top of her head as he went down one of the corridors._

"_Don't worry, Hikari" he said._

"_Daddy will always protect his little princess"_

/

Hikari rubbed her eyes when she woke up.

"_Another dream about dad" _she thought.

She remembered that her dad was as protective of her as Leon was.

He always made sure she wasn't alone in the castle and held her when they walked.

He would always call her, his princess.

She smiled softly at that.

"_At least I knew he loved me" _she thought.

When they arrived to their next world, she followed Sora towards the door.

'_I wonder what adventures this world will have in store for us?" _she thought.

/

Out at the open sea, the moon reflected its brilliant light across the still waters.

Everything was calm and tranquil until a certain mermaid jumped through the waters.

Ariel jumped across the calms waters and looked up at the moon happily.

"The night sky is so beautiful right after a storm…" she said to herself.

She stood there and just looked at the moon for a while until she saw some debris float past her.

She looked to her right to see someone floating on a wooden board.

Ariel gasped and swam towards the person.

She saw the man was passed out; likely due to the storm.

She knew that he wouldn't survive if he stayed out in the open water and had to bring him to land.

She carried him back to the nearest beach, where she sat right next to him and watched as he slept.

She had never seen a human being before, and she had to admit that this man was very beautiful.

As she brushed her hand alongside his face, she couldn't help but sing.

"_What would I give to live where you are…_

_What would I pay to stay here beside you…_

_What would I do to see you smiling at me…_

_Where would we walk, where we would run if we could stay all day in the sun…_

_Just you and me, and I could be part of your world…"_

As she was singing, she didn't realize the man was starting to wake up and saw her face.

When he woke up fully, Ariel quickly went back into the water.

The man slowly stood up and walked towards the ocean.

"The girl who rescued me…." He said.

"Her voice…"

As he was looking out at the ocean, he didn't notice to eels were watching him.

/

The waters of Atlantica were calm and relaxing.

Fish were swimming and plants swayed with the waves.

Everything was peaceful.

That is, until four certain strangers magically appeared and ruined it.

Sora, Hikari and the others wound up in Atlantica again and were back in their fish forms.

"Oh boy! Under the sea again!" Donald said.

He and Goofy swam casually while Sora had a hard time trying to keep himself upright.

Hikari was about to laugh at him, but she found out that she too forgot how to swim in this world and was trying to keep herself up as well.

They were so caught up with their own little battles, that they didn't notice Ariel, Sebastian and Flounder swam up to them.

The mermaid smiled when she saw her foreign friends.

"Sora! Hikari! Donald! Goofy!"

She went up to them and laughed when she saw Sora was upside down.

"You forget how to swim already?" she laughed.

Hikari used her arms to keep herself upright.

"Uh…sort of" she said.

"Den you just need to practice" Sebastian said.

"You follow Flounder-he show you what to do"

"You can do it!" Flounder said.

Sora and Hikari practiced how to swim by following Flounder around the area for a bit until they got the hang of it.

"That's much better" Sora said.

Sebastian swam up to them.

"Now den…" he said.

"What brings you four into da sea? Is something going on?"

"Kind of" Hikari said.

"But everything SEEMS peaceful" Goofy said.

"Oh, everything's fine…as long as daddy's in a good mood" Ariel said.

Sebastian's face lit up.

"Hey, we got us a concert very soon" he said.

"Why don't you sing in my musical extravaganza?"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

Sing in a concert?

She had never done that before.

Heck, she never really sang at all.

Sebastian swam up to her and Sora.

"Please say yes" he pleaded.

"Ariel's been actin' strange lately. But she might settle down and practice if you're dere, too"

"That sounds fun!" Donald said.

Sora nodded.

"Let's give it a shot" Sora said.

Sebastian smiled.

"Splendid!" he said.

"Now den, I teach you everything you need"

"What do we have to do?" Hikari asked.

"It's easy" Sebastian said.

He showed them how to dance underwater and to dance with Ariel.

When they finished, he smiled at them.

"Dat's all there is to it" he said.

Goofy tilted his head.

"Gawrsh, I don't know" he said.

"We'll practice back at the palace" Sebastian said.

He ushered them to follow him back to the underwater kingdom.

/

When they made it to the music hall, Sebastian stood in front of a grand music stand.

"Break a fin" he said.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" she said.

Sora just smiled at her.

"Just relax" he said.

"We hardly get any time to have fun. Consider this as an opportunity to do so"

Hikari just gave him a skeptical look and nodded.

She mentally prayed to herself to sing good and not look like an idiot in front of everyone.

When Sebastian waved his conductor stick, the orchestra started to play.

As the music started, the group started to sing with Ariel.

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy , come on in._

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

"Let the music move you!" Sebastian said.

"You can do it!"

"_Don't be shy, let the music inside _

_And dance, dance, dance!"_

"See, you can do it!" Sebastian said.

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in._

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

"Watch the stage now! How exciting!"

"_See the sign?_

_Can you reach it in time and tap, tap, tap?"_

"Yeah, that's it mon!"

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in._

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

"And if you can't reach the target, use magic!"

"_It's all the same, if you've got steady aim._

_Just zap, zap, zap!"_

"There, you got the rhythm now!"

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in._

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

It's not over yet! You can do it-keep going!"

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in_

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

"Now what about the bubbles?"

"_Just a touch, cause it won't take too much_

_To pop, pop, pop!"_

"Onto the next one!"

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in_

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

"Drum solo! Give him the clue!"

"_Count him in, so he'll know to begin _

_To drum, drum, drum!"_

"Now the cues are up to you!"

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in_

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

"Here's your big moment! Make them cheer!"

"_Don't dilly-dally, it's your big finale_

_Sha, la, la!"_

"You made quite a splash!" Sebastian said.

"That was fantastic!"

"_Swim this way, we'll dance and we'll play, now it's very easy, come on in_

_Just take a chance and shake a fin"_

Ariel sung the last part solo.

"_Swim along, just join in the song_

_A musical for everyone to have a lot of finny fun!"_

With that, they finished the song off with a dance.

Ariel looked at the group when they finished.

"You guys were amazing" she said.

Hikari blushed slightly.

This was the first time that she had ever sung, and she was surprised she did so well.

"Hey! I wanna sing more lines!" Donald said.

Ariel chuckled.

"Don't worry, you will" she said.

"At the concert, the singers get to finish off by singing a heart song"

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Heart song?"

Ariel nodded.

"It's a song that comes from the heart" she said.

"The singers listens to the feelings its heart is saying and they express it through a song"

She smiled at them.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

Sora rubbed his head.

"Uh…I don't really know what to sing" he said.

Donald and Goofy just shrugged.

They guys turned to Hikari.

"Well, Hikari. What about you?"

Hikari looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"Uh…I guess I could give it a try" she said.

"But you have to promise not to laugh!"

They nodded.

"We wouldn't do that to you" Sora said.

"Just give it a shot"

Hikari sighed.

What was her heart feeling right now?

Her mind wandered over to Riku and thought about the quest she was on.

She felt determined to find her true love, yet sad at the same time.

It seemed that no matter where she went, she couldn't find him.

It was as if he was lost in the dark.

She slowly started to sing.

As she did, the orchestra picked up and play music to follow the theme.

"_Toiki omowaseru amaoto ni tsutsumarete  
Kotoba wa muryoku to ki ga tsuiteru_

Tsutawaru no wa hitotsu dake  
Sou, sameta hoho ni tenohira de furete kanjiru

Hakanai nukumori de futari no sukima wo umete  
Kodou wo hibikasete kono toki wo wakachiaeru kara  
Hitomi tojite

Kimi to aruku gogo wake mo naku futo omou  
Yagate kono hibi wa owaru no kamo...

Yokan no koe kiku yori mo  
Sou, emi wo kawashi tenohira wo kasane shinjiru

Sasayakana nukumori de futari no kizuna tsunaide  
Inochi wo kanadete itoshisa wo moyashite  
Kono shunkan wo somete

Nani mo kamo utsurou sekai  
Toki wo tometai to negau yume kiete mo  
Ima kimi to ikiteku hi to toki wa  
Yume jyanai kara...

Hakanai nukumori ga haruka ni hanareta toshitemo  
Tamashii furueta shunkan no omoi yadoshite ashita he  
Natsukashii tenohira wo watashi wa wasurenai kara  
Kimi e to tadoritsuki meguriau...kanarazu  
Kurayami sae mo koete"

(Kimi e from Final Fantasy X-2)

When she finished singing, she saw the group with their mouths opened.

She looked at them nervously.

"What? Was it that bad?" she asked.

The guys shook their heads.

"I never realized you could sing like that" Sora said.

"That was amazing!" Donald said.

"It was so pretty, but sad" Goofy said.

Ariel went up to her and gripped her hands.

"Oh, Hikari. That was such a powerful heart song" she said.

"You must have a very strong heart to come up with something like that"

Hikari laughed weakly.

"I guess" she said.

"But it's all thanks to a special someone that means a lot to me"

Sora didn't have to think twice to who she was referring to.

"_Riku…" _he thought.

He sadly watched his friend and pitied her.

While Kairi was safe on the islands, Riku was still out there on one of the worlds.

She wouldn't rest until she found him and saw he was safe.

He bit his lip and prayed that his friend would have her wish come true.

Ariel smiled at Hikari, but soon frowned when her father showed up.

King Triton swam towards them and saw the keyblade bearers.

"King Triton" Sora said.

"I certainly hope there hasn't been a need to use those keyblades of yours" Triton said.

They remembered the last time that they were here, he was against them.

"Nope. Everything's fine" Sora said.

"Not a heartless in sight" Hikari added.

Sebastian went up to Triton.

"Your Majesty, our guests, dey wanna sing in the musical" he said.

Triton looked surprised.

"Well, that sounds like a splendid idea" he said.

He moved closer to Sora and Hikari.

"We may need your help after all…" he said.

"You see, I'm afraid Ariel's still infatuated with the human world. A busy rehearsal schedule might be just the thing she needs to stop thinking about life up on the surface"

They looked at Ariel to see her sulking off in the corner.

Hikari couldn't help but think of Riku.

It wasn't not so long ago that he wanted to see the outside worlds uncover their history.

Ariel was no different.

/

Up on the beach, the man that Ariel rescued walked along the shore.

He couldn't get the image of the girl who saved him out of his head.

As he was walking, he heard someone singing.

"That's the voice I heard!" he said.

"I'm sure of it!"

He looked around to see if he could find anyone.

"Hello! Where are you hiding!" he called out.

"I know you're the girl who saved me. Please, come out so I can thank you"

Sadly, no one would come out.

/

Under the sea, Sebastian watched as Ariel looked at the surface in wonder.

"Ariel?" he asked.

When she didn't respond, he chewed one of his claws.

"That girl's actin' strange again" he said to himself.

"Probably been flittin' around on da surface…ohhh, the Sea King is going to have my claws for dis!"

Sora and Hikari swam up to Ariel.

They were going to keep their end of the deal with King Triton and help Ariel get out of her funk; at least for now.

"Come on, we got to keep rehearsing" Hikari said.

Ariel looked at her and shook her head sadly.

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel like it" she said.

She went and swam off.

"No! Ariel!" Sebastian cried.

This was not good.

If Ariel wouldn't rehearse, then they were in big trouble.

Flounder swam up to them looking cheerful.

"I've got an idea, Sebastian" he said.

"I know how to cheer Ariel up!"

He swam away and lead them all to the sunken ship wreak area.

He pointed towards a rock that had something wedged under it.

"Over there, see?" Flounder asked.

They swam up to the rock and noticed that it was a statue that was stuck in the sand.

Sebastian panicked.

"Oh no! This must be from de human world!" he cried.

Flounder nodded.

"I found it after that storm-and I bet it's from a shipwreck" he said.

"Don't ya think Ariel will love it?"

Sebastian shook his head.

"But if de sea king finds out about dis…" he said.

"It's better than going to the surface" Donald said.

"Yeah, and whatever King Triton doesn't know won't hurt him" Hikari said.

They tried to see if they could move the rock that was on top of it, but the darn thing wouldn't budge.

"It's no use" Sora said.

Hikari sighed.

"We'll have to come back when we learn a few more spells" she said.

"Magic is the only thing that will get this sucker out"

They departed from Atlantica for the time being so they could learn a spell that would help them get the statue out.

There was no way they would abandon their friend like this.

However, this gave the group an opportunity to think of their heart song for the musical.

If they were going to sing a song from the heart, they wanted to make sure their feelings were heard, and that included using the right words.

/

**A/N: I know that was short, but then again, the Atlantica episodes are rather short. I hoped you all liked Hikari's song, and I recommend you listen to it, it's really beautiful.**

**Next up, we get to go to the coolest pirate film that Disney has ever made.**

**Grab your medallions and doubloons 'cause we're gonna see Jack Sparrow!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne**


	13. Port Royal

Chapter 13: Port Royal

**A/N: Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirates life for me! We finally get to go to one of the coolest worlds in this game!**

**I'm glad you liked Hikari's song in the last chapter. It can be a real tear jerker when the mood is right.**

**Since I got a few requests about what she should sing in the end, I'll just let you vote on a few songs.**

**Poll: Which song should Hikari sing at the musical?: Suteki da ne (Final Fantasy X), Melodies of Life (Final Fantasy IX), or Distant Worlds (Final Fantasy XI).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

As the group sailed to their next world, they kept humming to 'Swim this way'.

They really enjoyed singing and couldn't wait to do it again.

But if they wanted to continue with the rehearsal, they had to find a way to get that statue out from under the rock.

Otherwise, Ariel wouldn't practice.

"I wonder what kind of heart songs we're suppose to sing?" Goofy asked.

Sora shrugged.

"I don't know. Ariel said we had to sing whatever our hearts were feeling at the moment"

He smirked at Hikari.

"Hikari did a fine example of that"

Hikari blushed at the mention of her heart song.

She never thought something like that would come out of her mouth. All she did was think of Riku and let her heart take care of the rest. It seemed that it missed Riku as much as she did.

She sadly looked at the ground.

This starting to look like their last journey.

Even though Riku wasn't with Maleficent this time, he was still MIA.

She placed her hand where her lucky charm used to be.

She really hoped that she would find him again.

Not only did she have to find him, but she had to find her mom as well.

She was traveling with Riku since he had her lucky charm.

She let out a shaky sigh.

She had so many tasks on her plate, that she felt like she was going to break.

She had to find lost comrades, save the worlds from the heartless, find Organization Xlll and destroy them, and try to recover her lost memories.

How she was going to do all of this was beyond her.

"Hey, we landed!" Sora said.

When Hikari looked up at her friends, she smiled weakly and got up.

At least she wasn't doing this on her own.

"_I may have so many tasks to complete, but at least I have friends that are willing to help me out" _she thought.

/

When they walked through the newest world they landed on, they noticed it looked really different from the others.

Everything was dark and gloomy and looked like it was sent in the 1700's.

They walked around what appeared to be some sort of military training area since there were cannons and an open area for people to train.

The only source of light they had were these torches that were hung on the stone walls.

They walked over to the edge to look out at the dark ocean.

Hikari held herself slightly as she looked at the sight.

Everything was so dark that it terrified her.

"_Why must every world we land on have to be dark?" _she thought.

Sora studied their surroundings.

"This place seems…"

"Kinda different" Goofy finished.

Hikari nodded.

"Different is putting it lightly" she said.

Screams could be heard a ways down.

They ran over to see what it was and saw something was going up in the town.

"Something's up" Sora said.

"Organization Xlll?" Goofy asked.

"Or the heartless?" Donald added.

"Only one way to find out" Hikari said.

They ran down the steps and headed for the town.

/

Off near the outskirts of town, Pete was talking to a group of pirates.

The captain seemed to have told them about a certain treasure they were looking for.

"Aztec Treasure, eh?" Pete asked.

The captain nodded.

"Aye!" he said.

"And thanks to the curse put on it, we are neither among the livin' nor the dead"

Pete tilted his head.

"Really?" he asked.

"'Cause you look like regular pirates to me"

The Captain smiled darkly.

"Ah, but in the moonlight…"

When the moon appeared through the clouds, that's when Pete saw the extent of the curse.

"Whoa! Now I get what you were sayin'" he said.

He couldn't help but feel creped out at seeing them at skeletons.

He suddenly got an idea of how he could use these pirates.

"Well, if you see two doofuses and a couple of brats holdin' keyblades, steer clear" he said.

"They got a kinda magic that don't belong in this world, see? And nobody knows what it'd do to ya, 'specially when the moon's showing whatca really are"

He figured that since these guys were undead, then they could be of use to his plans.

When the moon was covered up, the Captain chuckled.

"A match for Barbossa, you say?" he asked.

Right as he said that, Sora and the others appeared with their weapons drawn.

"Hey!" he said.

Pete rolled his eyes.

Of course they would be here right away.

"See there? I knew it!" he said.

"Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about"

Sora glared at him.

"Who're you calling punks?" he asked.

"It's Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy to you! And don't you forget it!"

Barbossa chuckled.

"That we won't" he said.

"And we'll engrave it on your tombstone, to be sure"

Pete looked impressed.

"I like you style" he said.

Hikari sighed.

"Why is it that the bad guys always come up with the cheesy lines?" she asked herself.

Barbossa looked at his crew.

"Men-half you stay here and indulge these cullies. The rest-bring me that medallion!"

The pirates cheered and did as they were told.

Sora wore a cocky smirked when he saw only a few pirates stayed behind.

"Aw, we only get to stomp on a few of you?" he asked.

Barbossa just laughed darkly.

Everyone thought this would be easy.

All they had to do was take down these pirates and be on their way.

What they didn't realize though was that while they were fighting, their attacks seemed to bounce off of them. Both physical and magical.

"It's no use!" Sora said.

"We can't beat them!"

They slowly backed away from the pirates.

"Aye, whaddya expect?" a pirate asked.

When the clouds moved away from the moon, they went all skeletal.

Everyone gasped at the sight of the curse.

"You best be sayin' your prayers!" another pirate said.

Pete panicked.

"Hey, watch out! They can see ya!" he said.

"Stay away from their magic!"

Sora and Hikari smirked.

So these pirates were vulnerable in the moonlight?

"Hey, Pete, thanks for the tip!" Hikari said.

Pete covered his mouth when he realized he gave everything away.

Hikari looked at Sora.

"Since they don't like magic, why not use it?" she asked.

Sora smirked.

"Sounds good to me" he said.

They both reverted to their wisdom form and changed their outfits.

Sora's just changed to a blue color, but Hikari's changed drastically.

Her top changed to a blue tang top that was all frilly and flared out at the side, while her skirt grew shorter and was dark blue. Her black boots turned to white and to top it all off, her keyblade hovered beside her.

(A/N: Think of Yuna's songstress outfit from Final Fantasy X-2)

The keyblade masters went into action and attacked the pirates while they were still vulnerable.

Hikari seemed to glide around as she ran and let her keyblade attack on its own.

Whenever she went to cast a spell, her keyblade would respond and fired off the spell.

When the pirates were all gone, they reverted back to their normal forms.

Pete glared at them.

"This ain't over yet!" he said.

He ran off to the docks where all the ships were.

"If Pete's here, that must mean we have work to do" Sora said.

"And that pirate captain looked pretty mean, too" Goofy added.

"I'd hate to see him turn into a heartless" Hikari said.

Donald sighed.

"Well, we ARE here..." he said.

Sora suddenly got an idea.

"Hey, maybe we can take a pirate ship out for a spin!" he said.

The group looked at him as if he had lost it.

Hikari whacked him upside the head.

"Idiot! We've got work to do" she said.

Sora laughed and rubbed his head.

"I know, I was just kidding" he said.

"Weren't those guys headed into town?"

Goofy nodded.

"Yep, I think they were looking for treasure" he said.

They looked at where the town was.

"We should go stop them before anyone sees them" Hikari said.

"No one wants to see someone who is half dead"

They ran across the bridge that lead into the town and hoped the townspeople were safe.

/

Meanwhile, a pirate carried a woman over his shoulder.

The woman appeared to be of high class since she wore a fancy robe.

She was currently struggling against the pirate's grip and tried to free herself.

"Where are you taking me? Let me go!"

The pirate just continued to walk back to the ship and ignored her.

As they were walking, a blacksmith saw this and paled when he saw the woman.

"Elizabeth!"

He went to go after them, but he was stopped by the heartless.

"What are they?" he asked himself.

"It's the heartless!" Donald cried.

"Watch out!"

The group made it to him and acted like a shield.

Sora looked at the blacksmith.

"We'll deal with them " he said.

"Go! Take cover!"

The blacksmith nodded and ran to somewhere safe.

"Our work is never done" Hikari said.

They attacked the heartless while they had them trapped.

Since the town was like a maze, the heartless wouldn't know where to escape to.

When they were all gone, the blacksmith came up to them.

"Well done!" he said.

"My own fencing skills are not to be ashamed of…but I've never faced foes such as that before"

Sora looked impressed.

"You really think we're that good?" he asked.

"Did you find your friend?" Goofy added.

The blacksmith shook his head.

"I was too late" he said.

"But I must rescue her! Would you help me?"

The group nodded.

"Of course" Hikari said.

They all introduced themselves.

"I'm William Turner, but call me Will" the blacksmith said.

Sora nodded.

"Ok Will, let's go" he said.

"We've got to get to the docks" Will said.

They quickly headed back to the docks to rescue Will's captured friend, but when they got there, it was too late.

The pirate ship had sailed out of the port and was heading for open sea.

Will fell to his knees.

"We're too late" he said.

"Those pirates kidnapped Miss Swam and took her to their ship. Now they've sailed, and I'll never be able to find her!"

"Then she's long gone" someone said.

"The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best find yourself another girl, mate"

Everyone turned around to see someone boarding one of the ships.

"You…what are you doing aboard the Interceptor?" Will asked.

"She's off limits to civilians"

They walked up to the ship that the man was in.

"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commander her, then" the man said.

"She'll make a find pirate ship"

Sora's face lit up at the mention of pirates.

"A pirate!" he said.

The man looked at them and revealed to be a pirate himself.

He wore the standard pirate outfit and hand trinkets in his hair and beard.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please" he said.

Will suddenly came up with an idea.

"Take me with you" he said.

"Help me hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swan. I got you out of that jail cell, Sparrow. Do this and your debt's repaid"

Jack snorted.

"You'll have to win fair lady's heart alone, mate" he said.

"I see no profit in it for me"

"C'mon Captain" Sora said.

Will wore a know-it-all smirk.

"Are you sure you can sail her, all on your own?" he asked.

That got to Jack.

He walked off the ship and stood in front of him.

"You've a point there" he said.

Will and the others walked up the plank.

"Thanks, Sparrow" he said.

"CAPTAIN Sparrow" Jack corrected.

He looked at Sora and the others.

"I'm Sora" Sora said.

"This is Hikari, Donald and Goofy"

"I'm Will Tuner" Will said.

That caught Jack's attention.

"That would be short for William, I imagine" he said.

"No doubt named for your father, eh?"

Will looked surprised.

"Yes" he said.

Jack grinned.

"Well, then, Mr. Turner. You get us ready to make way. I've some effect to liberate"

Will nodded.

"Aye-aye, but hurry!" he said.

Jack just waved his hand.

"Naturally" he said.

Sora and the others walked off the ship when they looked around it.

Donald and Goofy looked at Sora.

"You really wanna be a pirate?" Goofy asked.

Sora just chuckled.

"Of course not!" he said.

Hikari snorted.

"This is coming from the same person who would dress up like a pirate on the islands and pretend he was looking for buried treasure?" she asked.

Donald and Goofy laughed while Sora blushed.

When they walked up to Jack, the Captain stopped them.

"What do you make of this Will?" he asked.

Sora shrugged.

"I don't know" he said.

"We just met him" Hikari admitted.

Jack grinned at that.

"Hmmm…I think my luck's about to change" he said.

They gathered the things they needed for their voyage and set sail.

/

Meanwhile on the Black Pearl, Elizabeth glared at Barbossa.

"You can release me" she said.

"You have your trinket; I'm of no further value to you"

Barbossa chuckled as he held up the medallion she had in her possession before.

"This is no trinket, missy" he said.

"This is cursed Aztec gold. One of eight hundred and eighty-two identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortez himself"

Elizabeth scoffed.

"I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa" she said.

Barbossa smirked.

"That's exactly what I thought" he said.

"Buried on an Island of Dead what cannot be found 'cept for those who know where it is. Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all! We spend 'em and traded 'em and fritted 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company. The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize…the drink would not satisfy, and food turned to ash in our mouths."

He stood up and walked over to Elizabeth.

"We are cursed men, Miss. Turner" He said.

"Compelled by greed, we were, but now…we are consumed by it"

"How very sad for you" Elizabeth said sarcastically.

Barbossa looked at her.

"There is one way we can end out curse" he said.

He smiled darkly.

"All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be gathered and restored to the stone chest. And the blood of every soul who touched a piece o' the treasure must be repaid. Miss Turner! For ten years we've searched every league of these waters, every town and every village-preying on sailors and settlers alike! Eight hundred and eighty-one pieces we found, but despaired of finding the last. All those years, you been safe in your bed, readin' your pirate stories, dreamin' of adventure on the high seas-we've endured torments worse than death itself!"

He chuckled.

"But now, thanks to ye, we have the final piece-at last. When this medallion is restored to the chest, we'll be free to roam the seas as men. No longer will we be ghosts!"

Elizabeth paled as the story ended.

"And the blood that's to be repaid?" she asked.

Barbossa laughed.

"That's why there's no sense to be killin' ye…yet"

Elizabeth jumped up from her seat and hearing that and ran out of the cabin.

She screamed when she saw the extent of the curse that was inflicted on the pirates.

"Ye see, the moonlight shows us for what we really are" Barbossa said.

He walked outside and let the moon reflect on him.

"We are not among the livin' and so we cannot die. But neither are we dead. I've suffered too long!"

Elizabeth shook at the sight of him.

"You'd better start belivin' in ghost stories, Miss. Turner" Barbossa said.

"For, you see, tonight-you're in one!"

Elizabeth ran back inside the cabin and was locked in by Barbossa.

The Captain laughed, realizing that his dreams were going to come true soon.

/

Back on the Interceptor, Jack was making way towards the Black Pearl.

He held out his compass as he steered the ship.

The smell of the sea hit Hikari's nose.

She never realized how much she missed that smell until now.

It reminded her of the islands and of the open sea.

She sighed.

She figured that this would be the closest thing she would get to her home right now.

The wind suddenly picked up and blew through everyone's hair.

Hikari's ribbon came undone and flittered through the air.

Hikari gasped in horror.

"Oh no!"

She ran for it and caught it just as it was about to leave the ship.

She sighed in relief when she caught it, but she found herself slipping off the ship from jumping to catch it.

Sora ran over to her and grabbed her to pull her up, but he started to fall over from Hikari's weight.

Donald and Goofy went to rescue them, but they nearly fell over as well.

Jack sighed in frustration at this.

"Bloody hell" he said.

He left the wheel and went to pull everyone up with the help of Will.

When everyone was back on the ship, Hikari held her ribbon close to her chest.

Tears ran down her face at the thought that she nearly lost her most prized possession.

Jack quickly went back to the wheel before they crashed into anything and left the group to themselves.

Sora looked at Hikari with worry.

"You ok?" he asked.

Donald crossed his arms in frustration.

"What's the big idea?" he asked.

"You almost went overboard trying to grab that stupid ribbon"

Hikari sniffled as she wiped her eyes.

Sora gave Donald a warning look before looking at his friend.

"Why did you try to go overboard for it?" he asked.

"It's just a ribbon. You can always replace it"

Hikari shook her head.

"It may be just a ribbon to you, but it's more to me. It's my greatest treasure" she said.

Goofy scratched his head in confusion.

"How can a ribbon be your treasure?" he asked.

Hikari looked up at them with tears still running down her face.

She looked at them for a moment before looking back at the ground.

"I…always hated the way that I looked" she said quietly.

"Since I'm a sorceress…I have features that you wouldn't normally see on a person. Take my eyes for example. They're so dark green, they look like they're made out of gems"

She gripped her ribbon tightly.

"Everyone used to say things about them on the islands. I was the only one who had green eyes, so they found it odd and strange. They acted like they had never seen that type of eye color before. I let my hair grow out so it would cover my eyes, but even then, they would still pick on me"

She sniffled a little.

"I would always cry because they would call me names and treat me like I was an alien. No one would really stayed near be…but then…."

/

_Flashback: 11 years ago._

_Hikari sniffled as she hid near the park._

_No one was allowed to go on the small islands today, so all of the kids had to play around the main lands._

_They all got together in their little groups and played with each other, which left Hikari alone._

_Since everyone thought she was weird because of her eyes, they avoided her like the plague._

_They even called her the girl from the ring because she let her hair fall in her face._

_She cried quietly as she curled herself into a ball._

'_Why won't anyone play with me?' she thought._

'_My eyes aren't that weird looking'_

_As she was crying, Riku walked by._

_He stopped when he heard someone crying, and saw Hikari curled up by a tree._

_He went over to her and squatted in front of her._

"_What's wrong?" he asked._

_Hikari jumped a little and peered at Riku through her long bangs._

_She sniffled as she wiped her eyes._

"_Nothing" she said._

_Riku tilted his head._

"_It doesn't sound like nothing" he said._

_He pushed her bangs back so he could see her properly._

"_You look like a shy ghost with your hair this way" he said._

_Hikari sniffled a little and curled up into a tighter ball._

_Riku looked at her for a moment._

_It seemed that she was really upset about her looks._

_He suddenly got an idea and smiled._

"_Wait right here. I'll be back" he said._

_He ran off and went to retrieve something._

_Hikari thought he was just going to run off and play, but he was surprised when she saw him come back._

_He held a red ribbon in his hand._

"_This ought to help" _

_He knelt in front of her and held the ribbon out._

"_Sorry it doesn't match your dress. But it was the only one I could find" he said._

_He brushed the hair out of her face and tied bits of her hair back with the ribbon._

_When he finished making the bow, he smiled at his handy work._

"_There, that's much better. You can keep the ribbon if you like" he said._

_Hikari touched the ribbon on the back of her head and shyly looked at Riku._

_The boy smiled at her._

"_Now everyone can see your face better" he said._

_Hikari sadly looked at the ground._

_Riku's smile faltered._

"_What's wrong?" he asked._

_Hikari bit her lip._

"_Now everyone will see my face" she said quietly._

_Riku shrugged._

"_Yeah, so?"_

_Hikari looked at him._

"_They'll make fun of my eyes!" she said._

"_They'll say they're weird looking!"_

_Riku crossed his arms in thought and tilted his head to the side._

"_I don't see anything wrong with them" he said._

"_They look normal to me"_

_Hikari looked surprised._

"_They…do?" she asked._

_Riku nodded._

"_Yeah. They're actually really pretty" he said._

"_They look like tiny, little gems"_

_Hikari blushed at that._

_No one had ever said that her eyes were pretty before._

_Riku smiled and held out his hand._

"_You should be more confident with yourself" he said._

_Hikari slowly grabbed his hand._

_Riku held her hand tightly and started walking with her._

"_You can play with me, Sora and Kairi. We won't say mean things to you"_

_As they walked, Hikari secretly touched the first gift she had ever got from Riku._

/

Hikari wiped her eyes after she told her story.

Sora looked amazed.

"It was Riku who gave you that ribbon?"

Hikari nodded.

"He was the first person to say something nice about my looks. He even gave me a ribbon so I would have to hide behind my bangs" she said.

She looked at the ribbon in her hands.

"In a way, this ribbon is like my red thread of fate to him. That was when I first realized that I had fallen in love with him"

A tear fell from her eyes.

"But since we got separated, this is the only thing that I have of him. It may seem ordinary to you, but it's so important to me"

Sora looked at her for a moment then slowly pulled out Kairi's lucky charm.

He knew all too well about having the only artifact of the one you love most.

If he had lost Kairi's lucky charm, he didn't know what to do.

He looked at Hikari and slowly pulled the ribbon from her hands.

"We should put this back where it belongs" he said.

He tied it back in her hair and smiled at his handy work.

Hikari smiled softly at him.

"Thanks, Sora" she said.

She looked over at Jack and bowed to him.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Captain" she said.

"And thank you for saving me"

Jack just looked out at the ocean and steered the boat.

"Not all treasures are silver and gold, lass" he said.

"Sometimes, even the greatest valuables can't have a price put on them. Just take me ship for example"

Hikari smiled, knowing that was his way of saying it was alright.

"Thank you" she said.

Jack smirked.

"Now that you finished your little story time, let's mossy on out and get me ship"

The group nodded.

"Aye-aye!"

They continued to sail across the sea to track down the Black Pearl.

Will looked at Jack while he was navigating with his compass.

"Why are so fixated on that compass?" Will asked.

"It'll be she that leads me to Isla de Mureta-" Jack replied.

"Where Barbossa's headed, savvy?"

"How do you know?" Sora asked.

Jack closed his compass and put it away.

"Ah, lad…he and I once had our eyes on treasure-Aztec gold" he said.

"'Twas hidden on the Isla de Mureta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship"

"So he's after that treasure then?" Will asked.

Jack looked at him.

"Treasure's already his" he said.

"So's the curse upon it. I've no desire for such treacherous spoils. But I will have back what's mine-the Black Pearl"

Hikari looked impressed.

"Sounds like you're a man with a plan" she said.

Jack smirked.

"You have to if you're going to live out in these open waters, savvy?"

They kept sailing until they reached the island.

/

When they got there, they hid their boat behind a couple of rocks so Barbossa's crew wouldn't see them.

They all stepped on the island to hear what was next on the plan.

Jack looked at Sora and the others.

"You four stay here" he said.

"Young Turner and I will rescue the lady"

Sora made a face.

"Hey, what about us?" he asked.

"You're to guard the ship o' course" Jack said.

"It's a task given only to the bravest pirates"

Sora and Hikari gave him a dull look.

What did he think they were? Five?

Sora just sighed.

"All right…" he said.

"Would have been boring anyway" Hikari added.

"Guard her well!" Jack said.

He looked at Will.

"Shall we?" he asked.

They ran down the rocky pathway and headed for inside the island while the others went back on the boat.

Sora placed his hands behind his head as they waited up by the steering wheel.

"I think he was just trying to fast-talk us…" he said.

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"What was your first guess?" she asked.

"Apparently, he's never seen a couple of keyblade masters in action"

Sora sighed.

"What's keeping those two?" he asked.

"They sure are taking their time" Goofy said.

"If Pete's hanging around, there must be heartless here, too" Hikari said.

It suddenly dawned on the guys as well.

"And Jack and Will aren't used to fighting heartless…" Sora said.

"Let's go see"

They quickly ran off the ship and headed for the island.

/

Meanwhile, Jack and Will had made it to the treasure room on the island.

Barbossa and Elizabeth stood in the middle with a great stone chest next to them.

The pirates cheered, knowing that their curse was going to be broken.

Barbossa held up the last medallion that they needed.

"Every last piece that went astray we have returned , save for this" he said.

He looked at Elizabeth.

"And now, the blood will be repaid to free us from this curse forever!"

/

Back with the group, they were currently heading for the inside of the cave.

It seemed they were right that Pete was nearby because the whole place was swarming with heartless.

"Pete really likes to play it dirty, doesn't he?" Sora asked.

"I think that cat is about to lose one of his nine lives" Hikari said.

When they reached the mouth of the cave, Will and Elizabeth ran out.

"Quick, they're after us!" Will said.

A group of pirates ran out of the cave.

"We'll hold them off!" Hikari said.

"Give us a sign when the ships ready" Sora added.

Will nodded and lead Elizabeth to the ship.

When the group fought with the pirates, they had to be careful with the curse and all.

If they were in a shaded part of the rocks, they would back away and lure them into the moonlight where they were more venerable.

When they saw a signal fire coming from the ship, they knew that the ship was ready to leave.

They quickly ran to the boat and jumped on it in the nick of time.

When they were safely on board, they went to Will.

They noticed that they were missing someone.

"Where's Jack?" Sora asked.

Will rubbed his neck and looked away.

Hikari narrowed his gaze at him and used her powers to see what had happened to their pirate friend.

/

_Barbossa turned to Elizabeth._

"_And now, the blood will be repaid to free us from this curse forever!" he cried._

_Will panicked and went to run towards them, but Jack stopped them._

"_No, not yet!" he said._

"_We wait for the opportune moment"_

_Will glared at him._

"_When it's of greatest profit to you?" he asked._

_Jack gave him a serious look._

"_May I ask you something?"_

_He walked up to him and got in his face._

"_Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?" he asked._

"_Stay here…and try not to do anything stupid"_

_He went to walk off, but Will knocked him out with a wooden oar he found._

_The Captain went down like a ton of bricks while Will went to go rescue Elizabeth._

_Meanwhile, Barbossa grabbed Elizabeth's hand and pulled out a knife._

_He slit her hand open and pressed the medallion to it._

"_Begun by blood…by blood undone" he said._

_He let go of her hand and let the medallion fall with the rest of them._

_He stood still for a moment to see if the curse was finally lifted._

_When he didn't notice any difference, he glared at Elizabeth._

"_You! Maid! Your father. Was your father William Turner?"_

_Elizabeth smirked darkly._

"_No" she said._

_In his frustration, Barbossa hit her across the face and had her fall to the edge of the treasure pile with the medallion in hand._

_The pirates shouted out in frustration._

_While this was going on, Will snuck up next to Elizabeth and grabbed her hand._

"_Hurry" he whispered._

_They quietly got up and ran for the opening of the cave._

_Barbossa saw them and saw Will had the medallion._

"_The medallion!" he cried._

_He looked at his crew._

"_After them, you ingrates!"_

_The pirates went after them._

/

Hikari glared at Will.

"You left Jack?" she cried.

Will shrugged sheepishly.

"I had to" he said.

"Jack's no fairy-tale pirate. The real one's aren't to be trusted"

Sora just sighed.

"I still think that was unfair"

Will headed for the wheel.

"You can complain about it later" he said.

"Right now, we need to head back to Port Royal"

Everyone just grumbled as they went in their proper places.

"I hope Jack can take care of himself" Hikari said.

"I don't see why not" Sora replied.

"I'm sure he's dealt with worse than this"

They went to the wheel while Will made sure Elizabeth was alright.

/

Down in the holding area, Elizabeth told Will everything that happened.

The blacksmith was stunned to say the least.

"Is it true?" he asked.

"You gave Barbossa my name instead of yours?"

Elizabeth nodded.

Will tilted his head.

"Why choose my name?"

"I don't know" Elizabeth replied.

She held out the medallion to show Will.

"Where did you get that?" Will asked.

Elizabeth bit her lip.

"It's yours" she said.

"From that day we found you-drifting at sea"

Will paled slightly.

"After all this time…I thought I'd lost it" he said.

"It was a gift from my father…he sent it to me"

Elizabeth slowly handed it to him.

"I'm sorry" she said.

Will looked at it for a second before looking back at Elizabeth.

"Why did you take it?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked at the ground.

"Because I was afraid that you were a pirate" she said.

"That would have been awful"

Will stood up.

"Of course…" he said.

"Don't you see? It wasn't your blood they needed…it was my father's blood-my blood. The blood…of a pirate"

Elizabeth gulped at this realization.

/

Meanwhile, our favorite Captain, Jack was currently tied up to one of the masses on the Black Pearl.

Barbossa walked up to him.

He never thought that he would have to see his partner's face ever again.

"How the blazes did you get off that island, Jack?" he asked.

Jack smirked darkly.

"When you sailed away in my ship and marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, with naught but a pistol and a single shot, you forgot one very important thing, mate. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow"

Barbossa chuckled deeply.

"I won't be makin' that mistake again" he said.

Jack lookedd at him.

"Then what say you puttin' the past behind us, untying these ropes, and letting me negotiate the return of your medallion, eh?" he asked.

"What say you to that?"

Barbossa rubbed his chin.

"Seein' as how the Black Pearl's mine now, Jack, lettin' you go doesn't seem to fall within my interests"

Jack glared at him.

"Odd, I'm not actually concerned with YOUR INTREST " he said.

"Give me back the Pearl!"

Barbossa just laughed at looked at his crew.

"Alright! Lock him in the brig!" he said.

A couple of pirates shoved Jack towards the brig while one of them went up to Barbossa.

"We're comin' up on the Interceptor , Captain" he said.

"What should we do?"

Barbossa glared at him.

"What do you think, you idiot?" he asked.

/

Back on the Interceptor, Will was steering the group back to Port Royal.

Elizabeth looked out at the open water and paled when she saw something closing in from behind them.

"Will, look!" she said.

The group ran over and saw the Black Pearl closing in on them.

"What now?" Donald asked.

"I wonder what Jack would do?" Sora asked.

Will shrugged.

"I'm not sure" he said.

"I suppose…he'd run for it"

"Sounds good to me" Hikari said.

Just then, a cannonball was launched from the Pearl and hit their ship.

Will went flying off the ship while everyone hit the floor.

"Everyone hit the deck!" Goofy cried.

They all hid somewhere safe as another cannon ball hit the ship.

The medallion slid across the floor.

Sora picked it up and stood up.

"We're just gonna have to fight!" he said.

He steered the boat so it would land next to the Pearl while Hikari lead Elizabeth to the storage hold.

"You'll be safe here" she said.

She cast a barrier around the area so Elizabeth wouldn't get hurt.

"Wait here until the fight is over"

She closed the doors behind her and went to help her friends out.

As the Black Pearl came up next to them, Sora handed Hikari the medallion.

"Make sure they don't get a hold of this" he said.

Hikari nodded and watched as the cursed pirates came up on the ship.

"Sorry guys, but you don't look like you would wear jewelry"

She ran over towards the cannons and fired them off so they would hit the Black Pearl.

Whenever a pirate got on this ship, Sora and the others would lead them away so they wouldn't get the medallion and take them down.

After a while, the Black Pear stopped attacking.

Sora smiled when he saw that.

"We beat the pirates!" he said.

"Well, did you now, laddie?"

They turned around to see Barbossa and his men on this ship.

The pirates had held Elizabeth hostage and had Jack with them as well.

"Jack!" Hikari cried.

Jack just laughed nervously.

Barbossa stepped towards them.

"Now then, I'll be having back that medallion" he said.

Hikari glared at him and took a step back.

Barbossa just smirked.

"Unless it's more important that their lives"

He pointed towards Jack and Elizabeth.

Hikari grimanced at that.

Now what was she supposed to do?

Should she keep the medallion, or save her friends?

"Barbossa!"

Everyone whipped around to see Will standing on the ledge with a gun pointed out.

"She goes free" Will said.

Barbossa just laughed.

"Go ahead boy-shoot! We can't die" he said.

Will's face looked grim.

"You can't…but I can"

He lowered his gun.

"My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!"

Barbossa paled at that.

Will pointed the gun at himself.

"On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' locker"

Barbossa looked at him.

"Name your terms…Mr. Turner" he said.

Will lowered the gun and pointed to Elizabeth.

"Release Elizabeth…" he said.

"And Sora, Hikari, and Donald and Goofy too"

Barbossa raised an eyebrow.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Leave-now!" Will ordered.

Jack hung his head sadly, knowing that his name wasn't called.

Barbossa grinned and bowed.

"Agreed. Leave we shall…."

He looked up.

"But the heartless stay"

Just then, Pete jumped on the boat and knocked Will out.

Sora and Hikari went to go help him, but they were surrounded by heartless.

"No fair!" Hikari said.

The pirates grabbed them and tied them up before throwing them into the storage down below with Jack and Elizabeth.

"Good work, Barbossa!" Pete said.

"Who knew it'd be this easy?"

Barbossa laughed as he held up the medallion.

"Barbossa, you coward!" Elizabeth shouted.

Sora and Hikari struggled against their bonds, but couldn't get out of them.

"That's the last time I trust a pirate!" Sora said.

"The powder kegs are ready, Captain!" a pirate shouted.

Barbossa looked at the group.

"Then I bid ye farewell!" he said.

The Black Pearl's crew hurried off the ship and made it to their own.

Donald looked at his friends.

"What are we gonna do?" he asked.

"We'll be blown to smithereens!" Goofy added.

Jack just looked at them calmly.

"Why struggle, mate?" he asked.

"A pirate knows when to surrender"

Hikari glared at him.

"Are you serious, Jack?" she asked.

"That man just sailed away with your ship and with our friend. You're just going to give up?"

Jack shrugged.

"You're average pirate anyway" he said.

He suddenly stood up, free from his bonds.

He put the knife that he secretly had out away and looked at the group.

"First, we got to see to the gunpowder" he said.

"I'm not about to lose this ship"

Sora gave him a dull glare.

"We still don't plan to trust pirates again" he said.

Jack knelt down to set them free.

"Wise policy, lad" he said.

When they were all free, they quickly ran up to the deck and saw that the whole ship was filled with lit barrels.

"We better get rid of these things before they go off like fireworks" Sora said.

Everyone kicked the barrels off the ship before they could ignite.

"All clear" Sora said.

Jack quickly ran to the wheel.

"That's the second time I had to watch that man sail away with my ship" he said.

"But I'll be havin' her back soon enough"

Hikari nodded.

"We know you will" she said.

"It's easy to lose sight of things in a world with so many obstacles. But if you keep going, you're sure to find what you were looking for-sooner or later"

Jack just smirked.

"Well, aren't we the smart one" he said.

They sailed towards Isla de Mureta where Barbossa was.

/

When they made it to the island, Jack looked at Elizabeth.

"You stay with the ship, lass" he said.

Elizabeth glared at him.

"I'll do no such thing!" she said.

"Will could die in there"

Jack waved his hand.

"Dear William is fine" he said.

"Trust me"

"I'm not a fool, Jack" Elizabeth replied.

Sora stepped forward.

"Then trust me instead" he said.

Elizabeth looked at him and his friends before nodding.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald, Goofy-bring Will back safely!" she said.

"Don't worry. You can count on us" Hikari said.

Elizabeth went back to the boat while the group headed towards the heart of the island.

"I know where to go, so I'll lead the way" Jack said.

As he took a step forward, a group of heartless stood in front of them.

"On second thought, why don't you go first?"

Sora and Hikari rolled their eyes.

"Some pirate" Hikari said.

They took them out with the help of Donald and Goofy.

Jack was pretty handy as well with that sword of his and the little cheery bombs he had on him.

As they made it into the cave, some of Barbossa's pirate were on watch.

When they spotted the group, they pulled out their weapons.

The down side to this whole scenario was the fact that since they were since the cave, there was no moonlight. And no moonlight meant invincible pirates.

"Bloody curse" Jack said.

He pulled out a few bombs and threw them at the pirates in hopes of blowing them up, but they just stayed in one piece.

However, parts of the cave's wall broke down from the explosion and let some light in.

Sora suddenly got an idea.

"Jack, give me one of those!" he said.

Jack tossed him a bomb while he fought off with one of the pirates.

Sora grabbed the bomb and looked at Hikari.

"Can you use one of those light spells that you used before?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Good, cause we're going to add a skyline to this place"

Hikari smirked when she caught onto to Sora's idea.

Sora lit the bomb with a minor fire spell and threw it up in the air.

Hikari aimed her keyblade at it and shot off a beam of light.

When the light and bomb hit each other, the whole ceiling exploded.

Jack gave them a perplexed look.

"You're a bunch of daredevils" he said.

But when he noticed the pirates were vulnerable, he smirked.

"But then again, you take what you can get"

They got rid of the pirates while they were still out in the moonlight before they headed for the treasure room.

"I hope we aren't too late" Hikari said.

/

Barbossa stood before him men in the treasure room.

Will stood next to the Aztec treasure chest, knowing there was no way he would get out of this.

Barbossa sighed.

"Now let's be tryin' this again!" he said.

"The last of the Aztec treasure has been returned"

He pointed his knife at Will.

"And now, the blood will be repaid to free us from this curse forever! This time for sure!"

As the pirates were cheering, the group ran into the room.

"Ahoy!" Sora cried.

"Treasure mateys!"

Barbossa paled when he saw them.

"Not possible" he said.

"Not probable" Donald corrected.

"We're alive, and we're pirates!"

The group stood before them.

"Captain Jack Sparrow!"

"Sora!"

"Hikari!"

"Donald Duck!"

"Goofy, too!"

Barbossa glared at them.

"So you wanna play pirate?" he asked.

"Best save the playacting for the nursery. After them!"

Jack ran towards Barbossa while Sora and Hikari took on Barbossa's goons.

When they were all defeated, Sora smirked.

"No more playacting now!" he said.

Will ran up to them.

"Thank you" he said.

Goofy looked around.

"Uh, where's Jack?" he asked.

They looked at one of the ends of the cave and saw Jack fighting with Barbossa.

Both appeared to be evenly matched, but with Barbossa having the curse on him, it could change in a manner of minutes.

"Jack! Get him!" Hikari cried.

This distracted Jack a little and gave Barbossa the opportunity to pierce his sword through Jack.

"Jack!" Sora shouted.

Barbossa grinned.

"You're a fool, Jack Sparrow" he said.

Jack staggered back a bit until he reached the moonlight, when he did, they saw his body become all skeletal.

"What the?"

Jack held up a medallion that he managed to steal during the fray.

Barbossa growled in frustration.

"Show yourself Pete!" he shouted.

"The tide has changed!"

Pete appeared from the shadows.

"See? I told ya you'd be needin' ol' Pete!"

He summoned up a chameleon like heartless that made parts of the room really dark.

Barbossa grinned darkly and into the shadows.

"Let's see you try to get me now" he said.

Jack ran up to them.

"Get rid of that lizard thing" he said.

"Otherwise, we won't be able to beat him"

Hikari held up her keyblade.

"Leave that to me" she said.

She did the same trick she used on the Dark Thorn and tracked the heartless using the power of light.

When she found it, Sora cut it down with his keyblade.

Jack looked at Barbossa.

"Face it Hector" he said.

"You're outnumbered by five to one. You'll never win"

Barbossa just glared at them and pulled out a gun.

"Then why don't I even the odds and take you all out one by one?" he asked.

He lunged at them with his sword drawn in one hand while his gun was in the other.

When he got close, Hikari stepped on his blade so he couldn't swing it.

Barbossa glared at her.

"Little wench!"

He undid the safety on his gun and pointed it at her.

Hikari just glared at him and kicked the gun out of his hand.

"Bastard" she spat.

Barbossa glared at her and ran off to grab his weapons.

Sora saw this and did a combo attack with Jack where Jack swung Sora so he could kick Barbossa up in the air and then Sora would jump off of Jack's shoulder's and spike the cursed Captain to the ground.

When Pete saw this, he ran away.

"This ain't over!" he shouted.

Jack looked at Barbossa.

"Right. Care to surrender, Barbossa?" he asked.

Barbossa glared at him and pulled out his sword.

Jack sighed.

"Well, enough of this then"

He dropped his sword and pulled out his gun.

"What say you we call it-a draw?"

Barbossa just laughed.

"Jack, how many times do I have to tell ya-"

Jack threw the medallion that he used back in the chest before firing his gun off at Barbossa.

The cursed captain just laughed.

"Laugh while you can, Barbossa" Will said.

Barbossa looked at Will to see him standing next to the chest with a medallion in hand.

When he dropped it back in the chest, Barbossa felt blood running down his chest.

He paled drastically.

"I fell…cold" he said.

He fell to the ground lifelessly.

It seemed he finally got his wish and was set free.

/

With the battle finally over, the group headed back to where the ship was.

Will looked at Jack.

"What now, Jack?" he asked.

The Captain just smirked.

"Whatever I want, now that the Pearl is mine again" he said.

Will nodded.

"That she is"

"Thank you, Jack"

He held out his hand to shake, but Jack flinched.

"I didn't want ye hittin' me again, mate" he said.

Sora and Hikari smirked.

"Hey, Jack- good luck" Sora said.

"And remember to be good" Hikari added.

Jack just smirked.

When Elizabeth saw Will, she ran off the ship.

"Will!" she cried.

She ran into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Jack just rolled his eyes and pulled out his compass

Sora and Hikari smiled softly at the scene.

It reminded them of their significant others.

Donald and Goofy saw them blushing slightly.

"Sora, why is your face red?" Goofy asked.

Sora quickly covered his face.

"What? It's not red!" he protested.

Donald smirked.

"Aw, I know who you're thinking about" he said.

Goofy patted Hikari on the shoulder.

"And I know who Hikari is thinking about" he said.

Hikari just looked at her boots.

Sora went up to her and gripped her shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll find him. I promise" he said.

Hikari smiled softly at him and touched her ribbon.

"I know" she said.

Just as Jack opened his compass, it started to glow brightly and floated.

Sora and Hikari pulled out their keyblades and sealed the keyhole.

When they were over, they both looked at Donald.

"You know….for a minute there…I was afraid we were gonna lose Donald to the curse of the treasure" Hikari said.

"Yup, me too" Goofy said.

"What?" Donald cried.

The group just laughed as they sailed back to Port Royal.

It seemed that Jack was right about one thing.

Not all treasure was silver and gold.

The greatest valuables were ones that you couldn't put a price on it.

/

**A/N: So now you know why Hikari's ribbon is so special to her: Riku gave it to her. And we now know what cemented their relationship, or rather, what started it. I think this chapter was the one I've had the most fun so far. Hopefully, we'll be seeing Jack Sparrow soon. **

**Please review and tell me what you think. **

**And remember to vote on my poll! **

**Ja ne**


	14. Atlantica: Part of your World

Chapter 14: Atlantica: Part of your World

**A/N: The votes are in and it seems like everyone wants Hikari to sing Suteki Da Ne as her heart song. I got a vote for Distant Worlds, so I'll have Sora sing that as his heart song.**

**Now that we have Hikari's song picked, you have to vote which version you want to hear. Do you want the Japanese or English version?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Sora and Donald sang 'A Pirate's Life for Me' as they sailed the Gummi Ship.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their time at Port Royal and getting to spend time with Jack Sparrow.

Hikari was all grins too, but it wasn't because of their pirate adventures.

After their fight with Barbossa, her heart didn't give her any trouble.

It didn't act up and she didn't feel pain after words.

"_I guess it was just a temporary thing" _she thought.

As they sailed through space, she remembered that they had to go back to Atlantica.

"Hey, we need to help Flounder and Sebastian get that statue out" she said.

Sora grinned.

"Oh yeah" he said.

"We even learned that spell that would help us out"

Donald steered the ship towards the underwater world so they could surprise their mermaid friend.

/

As Ariel looked up at where the sky was, she couldn't help but think of that prince she rescued.

He simply mesmerized her and made her desires to see the outside world even stronger.

She wished that she could see his handsome face again and hear his voice.

She sighed sadly.

No matter how much she wished for it, she knew it would never come true.

"Ariel!"

She turned around to see Sora and the others swim up to her.

They all wore huge grins on their faces.

"We'd like ya to come with us, Ariel" Goofy said.

"Have we got something to show you!" Hikari added.

Ariel decided to go with them.

She thought it was unfair that she had been ignoring them during their stays.

She followed them to where they kept their special surprise.

/

When they made it to her grotto, Ariel gasped.

There, standing in the center was a statue.

It wasn't any ordinary statue, but a statue of the prince she rescued.

The others smiled when they saw her swim up to it.

"It's a pretty cool statue, huh?" Sora asked.

"It looks like some kind of prince" Donald said.

Sebastian groaned, knowing that this was a bad idea.

As Ariel looked at the statue's face, she couldn't help but start singing.

"_Look at this stuff, isn't it neat?_

_Wouldn't you think that my collection's complete?_

_Wouldn't think I'm a girl…a girl who has everything?_

_Look at this trove, treasure's untold._

_How many wonders can one cavern hold?_

_Looking around here you'd think…"Sure, she's got everything"_

_I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty._

_I've got whozits and whatzitz galore._

_You want thingamabobs?_

_I've got twenty._

_But who cares? No big deal._

_I want more._

_I wanna be where the people are._

_I wanna see…wanna see them dancing._

_Walking around on those, what do you call 'em?_

_Oh, "feet"._

_Up where they walk, up where they run…_

_Up where we can stay all day in the sun, _

_Wandering free, wish I could be…part of that world"_

When she finished singing, Hikari looked at her sadly.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one suffering from heartache.

Ariel had fallen in love with someone that she knew that she could never see.

"Ariel…" she said.

The mermaid just went up to the statue and hugged it like a lover.

The keyblade mistress bit her lip as she thought about what she was going to do next.

She knew it was crazy, but she wanted Ariel to be with her dream man, even if he was human.

She looked at Sora to see that he nodded his head in agreement.

"We're here for you, you know" he said.

Sebastian swam up to them.

"Oh, no- you four stay out of it!" he said.

Everyone just chewed him out.

"Look who's talking!" Sora said.

"Yeah! You were gonna tell her dad about it!" Donald said.

The crab just held his head.

"Oh, what am I gonna do?" he asked himself.

"Just keep your mouth shut and you won't become stuffed crab" Hikari said.

/

Back at the palace, King Triton sat on his throne as he waited for Sebastian.

The crab was really late-something that Sebastian never was.

When the crab slowly swam into the throne room, he looked really nervous.

Triton noticed this as well.

"You're late, Sebastian" he said.

"Is something wrong?"

The crab gulped down his nerves.

"No. Nothing, Your Majesty" he said.

Triton nodded.

"That's good" he said.

"So, tell me- how is the song for the musical coming?"

Sebastian fiddled with his claws.

"It's finished, Your Majesty" he said.

"And it celebrates all de wonderful things found here in de ocean. It will be my finest work"

Triton looked at the crab seriously.

"Will it get Ariel's mind off the human world?" he asked.

That was the whole reason why he put his daughter into the musical.

He was getting tired of her fantasies of the outer world.

Sebastian gulped.

"Er, yes…well…probably….possibly"

Triton gave him a hard look.

"I-I mean, most definitely!" the crab corrected.

He needed to leave before he blew his cover.

Even though he didn't like Sora and Hikari's idea, he was willing to go along with it now.

Ariel deserved to be happy.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I must rehearse…you understand"

He quickly swam off before Triton could question him any further.

/

Sora and Hikari watched Ariel as she looked up at the sky.

Hikari sadly watched her.

"She seems so…sad" she said.

"It's as if she's empty inside"

Sora nodded slowly.

"She kind of reminds me of you" he said.

Hikari looked surprised when she turned to him.

"Really?"

Sora nodded.

"You both wish to be with the one you love most, but you don't know how to find them" he said.

"It's like you're making yourself suffer over this by not being able to do anything. Almost like a princess waiting for her knight to rescue her

Hikari looked at the ground sadly.

Did she really appear that way?

Sure, she was trying to find Riku, but she wasn't desperate.

She just wanted to bring him back to the islands and be reunited with her mom.

There wasn't anything desperate in that, was there?

Donald and Goofy swam up to them.

"Aww, Hikari isn't like that" Goofy said.

"Sure, she's a princess. But she's not going to sit around and wait for Riku to return to her. She takes actions into her own hands"

Donald nodded.

"Yeah, she's too impatient to wait"

Sora chuckled.

"You're right about that" he said.

"But…it just makes me feel sad to see my friend all heartbroken over finding Riku"

Hikari smiled weakly at her friends.

It was nice to know that they cared about her.

"Don't forget, Sora. Once upon a time, you were bent out of shape when we couldn't find Kairi" she said.

Sora blushed at the mention of Kairi.

"We may have found her and saved our island, but it's far from over for me. My heart won't rest until I find Riku and my mom. I won't relax until I can see their faces again and hear their voices. As long as I'm still searching, I won't rest properly"

Sora looked at her and held out his hand.

"Then let's worry together" he said.

"Don't forget that Riku is my best friend. I may not know your mom real well, but I promise that I'll helo you find her"

Hikari smiled and placed her hand on top of his.

"Deal" she said.

Donald and Goofy placed their hands on top as well.

"All for one, and one for all" Goofy said.

As they broke off, Sebastian came to them.

The crab looked stressed out.

"Dis will never work" he said.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked.

Sebastian held up a music sheet.

"I've composed a perfect song for de musical" he said.

"But I think it's going to be too complicated for you"

Sora gave him a dull look.

"C'mon. How hard can it be?"

He grabbed the sheet and looked at it.

When he saw all the notes on it, he knew there was no way they could sing this song.

At least not right now.

Hikari looked at the crab and laughed nervously.

"Oh, would you look at the time" she said.

"We have to go and save other worlds. We'll be back when we're free"

They quickly swam back to the ship before Sebastian could stop them.

It seemed that they had more than their heart song to worry about now.

/

**A/N: And there's part 2 of Atlantica. Poor Hikari, she's really suffering from heart break. Hopefully, she'll see Riku soon.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**And don't forget the poll!**

**Ja ne!**


	15. Agrabah

Chapter 15: Agrabah

**A/N: Holy cow, I have over 100 reviews and we're not even half way through the story yet! Thanks so much, you guys! Maybe if I'm lucky, I can get 150 reviews.**

**Since you all mostly voted for the English version of Suteki Da Ne, I'll use that one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"So Hikari, did you learn anything else about your past?" Sora asked as he took his seat on the ship.

Hikari looked at him in confusion.

"Why ask that?"

Sora shrugged.

"I don't know" he said.

"Usually, when we're traveling, you usually remember something. So did you learn anything new like about your dad or something?"

Hikari thought about for a moment.

"I don't know. Let me check"

She closed her eyes and searched deep within her heart for one of her memories.

/

_Taiyouko walked down the many hallways of the castle._

_She seemed to be looking for someone since she kept looking this way and that._

_When she spotted the person she was looking for, she broke into a smile._

"_Darling!" she cried._

_Hikari's father turned around and smiled softly at her._

_Taiyouko pecked him on the cheek when she reached him._

"_What are you doing here, Taiyouko?" Hikari's father asked._

_The sorceress giggled._

"_I came to see you silly" she said._

"_Is there a crime in that?"_

_The man chuckled._

"_Of course not" he said._

"_But I'm afraid that I can't stay for very long. I have work to do"_

_Taiyouko's smile faltered a little._

"_Have another experiment to do?" she asked._

_Hikari's father nodded._

"_The master is having me help him test out his latest theory" he said._

"_Just think, we're one step away from finding the understandings of the heart"_

_Taiyouko gave him a weak smile._

"_Just don't overdo it" she said._

"_You tend to over exert yourself when it comes to stuff like this"_

_Hikari's father pulled Taiyouko into a hug._

"_Don't worry" he said._

"_I'm doing all of this so I can protect my family. You, Hikari and Leon are my reason for living"_

_He let her go and kissed her lightly on the lips._

"_I'll see you tonight" he said._

"_If I'm done early, I'll take us out for dinner"_

_Taiyouko smiled at that._

"_I'll be waiting" she said._

_She waved at him as he left._

_When he was gone, her smile vanished._

"_You've changed" she said quietly._

/

Sora looked at her when she opened her eyes.

"Well?" he asked.

Hikari looked at the ground in puzzlement.

"It was about my dad and my mom" she said.

"It seemed like my dad was busy with some sort of experiment and couldn't stay with my mom very long. She seemed very sad and said that he's changed"

She looked at Sora.

"I don't really have anything else but that. It's really confusing" she said.

"What did she mean that he changed and what experiment was he talking about?"

Sora thought about it for a second.

"Maybe it has something to do with the heart" he suggested.

"Remember Ansem was trying to find the understandings of the heart? Maybe your dad was involved with it"

Hikari gulped nervously.

Was the true?

Was her dad involved with Ansem's research?

"If that's true" she said in a shaky voice.

"Then that means he had a part of my world falling to the-"

She didn't want to think that her sweet, kind dad had any part with the destruction of her world or the fact that Ansem wanted to use her heart to open the final door.

Sora gripped her shoulder.

"Don't worry" he said.

"I'm sure he didn't know what was going to happen to your world. Don't let it get to you. Just think about finding Riku and giving him the biggest lecture of his life"

Hikari weakly smiled at him.

"You're right" she said.

"Thank, Sora"

Sora smiled at him and nodded.

"I promised Riku that I would take care of you while we were separated and I intend to keep that promise. Plus, I don't want Leon to kill me over something like this"

Hikari giggled at that.

"No, we wouldn't want that" she said.

They lounged in their seats as Donald sailed them towards another world in need of saving.

/

Deep within the streets of Agrabah, Jafar's pet parrot, Iago flew around in a lazy manner.

He landed on a set of crates and sighed deeply.

He was lucky to get out of Jafar's lamp, but now that he was free, he didn't know what to do with himself.

When heard footsteps, he looked up to see a group walking by.

Sora and the others smiled when they stepped into the market place.

"Agrabah! We made it!" Donald said.

"Gawrsh, I wonder how Aladdin and Jasmine are doing?" Goofy asked.

"Hey, maybe Riku's with them" Hikari said hopefully.

"Yeah, and the King!" Goofy added.

When Iago saw them, he suddenly grinned and got an idea.

He quickly flew to them.

"Keep dreaming, you two" Donald said as they walked.

Sora smirked.

"Come on, Donald" he said.

"You were thinking the same thing"

"No I wasn't!" Donald countered back.

When Iago flew closer to them, Goofy spotted him.

"Uh-oh!" he cried.

"It's un…um..it's Iago!"

At the mention of Jafar's pet, the group pulled out their weapons and aimed it at the parrot.

Iago panicked.

"Wait! You got me all wrong!" he cried.

Donald gave him a dull look.

"You're Iago alright" he said.

The parrot shook his head.

"No, I mean it's not the old me!" he said.

"I've turned over a new feather! I'm legit. No more scams, I promise!"

"Bet that's your new scam" Hikari said as she placed a hand on her hip.

"You gotta believe me!" Iago pleaded.

Donald rolled his eyes.

"Let's go, you two" he said.

Iago looked at them desperately.

"I was stuck in that lamp with Jafar, remember?" he asked.

"But then I escape, and then some things happened-"

"So, free as a bird, huh?" Sora asked.

"Have fun!" Donald added.

Goofy looked at them sadly.

"Gawrsh, fellas. He looks pretty sad" he said.

Iago looked relieved that someone actually believed in him.

He quickly flew over to Goofy and landed in his hands.

"I wanna apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine" he said.

"Could you guys maybe put in a good word for me?"

Goofy nodded.

"Sure" he said.

He looked at his friends.

"We can do that, can't we?" he asked.

They just gave him a skeptical look.

However, they failed to notice that a group of heartless were behind them, but Iago did.

"Watch out!" he cried.

The group whipped around and saw the heartless.

"Not again" Hikari whined as she whipped out her keyblade.

"Busy as usual" Sora said as he slashed at a heartless.

They attacked at the heartless bandits that surrounded them before another group of them appeared.

A few of them saw Iago and closed in on him.

The parrot flipped out and flew away from them, screaming.

As he did, he bumped into a few crates that were up above a storage unit and had them crash on the heartless.

The group saw the door to the storage unit and decided to hide there for the time being.

"This way!" Sora cried.

They all ran while the heartless were distracted and hid inside the storage area.

/

When everyone was safe, they looked at Iago.

"Aw, we'd been goners if Iago hadn't helped us" Goofy said.

"Ain't that right, fellas?"

Sora, Hikari and Donald made a face.

It seemed Goofy did have a point.

Sora looked at the parrot.

"I guess we owe you one" he said.

Iago smiled.

"Perfect!" he said.

"But you'll have to win over Jasmine and Aladdin yourself" Hikari said.

"Be on your best behavior, got it?"

Iago nodded.

"Yeah, got it" he said.

"Where IS Aladdin anyway?" Goofy asked.

"I betcha he's at the palace" Iago said.

"Then let's go" Sora said.

They carefully checked outside to see if the coast was clear before they walked out.

Iago slowly flew behind them as they made it to the palace gates.

As they reached them, they spotted Jasmine.

Hikari smiled when she saw one of her fellow princesses of heart.

"Jasmine!"

The princess turned around and smiled brightly when she saw them.

"Hikari, Sora, Donald, Goofy" she said.

The four of them dropped down to a bow.

"Your Majesty" Donald said.

Jasmine giggled.

"I never had the chance to thank you for before" she said.

"You helped Aladdin defeat that awful Jafar and saved Agrabah"

"All in a day's work" Sora said.

"Nothing new for us" Hikari added.

Her smile faltered.

"But, it looks like the heartless are up to no good again" she said.

"Is there any way we can help you out?"

"I think we're alright for now" Jasmine said.

"And ya always got Aladdin" Goofy added.

Jasmine looked at the ground sadly.

"Well, he hasn't been himself lately" she said quietly.

"Is it because of the heartless?" Donald asked.

"I'm not sure" Jasmine said.

"Usually, he's the same cheerful Aladdin, but sometimes…he just seems sad. He leaves the palace and off by himself all the time. I've asked him about it, but he says nothing's wrong-he's gone again today. What if he doesn't come back this time?"

Iago, who was hiding behind Goofy this whole time, popped up.

"Hey, maybe he's got a secret girlfriend?" he suggested.

"I know! I'll go find out who she is"

Hikari held the bridge of her nose.

"Idiot" she mumbled.

Jasmine gasped in horror.

"Iago!" she cried.

"Quick, catch him! I'll go warn the guards"

Sora scratched his chin nervously.

"That's the thing" he said.

"Iago's not-"

Jasmine quickly ran back to the palace.

Sora sighed and turned to Iago.

"Nice move" he said.

"Maybe it's something ya said" Goofy said.

Iago sighed at his own stupidity.

"Maybe we should go check up on Aladdin?" Goofy asked.

"He's gotta be somewhere in town, right?"

"Good idea" Sora said.

"I wonder what he's been doing?"

"Hopefully, not spending time with some girl" Hikari said.

She glared at Iago as she said that.

They walked from the palace gates and headed back into town.

/

"Stop! Thief!"

The group saw a peddler chasing Abu down the street.

"Come back here!"

Aladdin was right on his tail.

When he saw the group, he waved at them.

"Hey guys" he said.

They followed after him as they cornered Abu.

Aladdin grabbed whatever it was that Abu had and handed it to the peddler.

The tiny merchant glared at him.

"If you can't control the fur ball, put a leash on him" he said.

Aladdin laughed nervously.

"Look, I'm sorry" he said.

He rounded on Abu.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Abu"

The monkey just squeaked in protest.

The merchant just 'humped' and stormed off.

As the group past him, they noticed that he was carrying a black lamp.

A really familiar black lamp.

When Aladdin saw them, he smiled.

"Sorry about earlier" he said.

"I was kinda in a hurry"

The group just smiled.

It was nice to see an old friend.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

Aladdin shrugged.

"You know Abu, he couldn't keep his paws off that lamp"

Abu squeaked in protest.

"No talking your way out of this one" Aladdin warned.

They chuckled a little.

"I guess you can't be THAT down in the dumps" Sora said.

Aladdin looked confused.

"Who said I was?" he asked.

"Princess Jasmine" Goofy said.

"She's worried 'cause you're always in town"

"Got a new girlfriend?" Donald asked.

"You better not" Hikari warned.

Aladdin shook his head.

"No way!" he said.

"Still…I guess there's no foolin' Jasmine, huh?"

He sighed.

"Genie and Carpet took off to see the world. It's what Genie always wanted, so I wished him the best and all, but…"

"You miss him" Goofy finished.

Sora placed his hands behind his head.

"Man, things must be REALLY quiet with Genie gone" he said.

"Yeah" Aladdin said.

"That's why I come here. The action- the people. There's always something goin' on. I mean, c'mon. I met you guys here today, right? This place is full of surprises"

Goofy looked over his shoulder to see Iago on the ground shaking.

"Uh, guys?"

They all turned around to see the trembling parrot.

"Iago?" Aladdin asked.

"Oh, right…he wants to apologize for all the trouble he caused" Sora said.

"Oh, he does?" Aladdin asked, not really convinced.

"Gawrsh, he's so sorry, he's shakin'!" Goofy said.

Iago pointed in the direction where the peddler went.

"Th-th-that lamp!" he cried.

"What about it?" Aladdin asked.

Iago flew towards them.

"It was THE lamp!" he cried.

Aladdin snorted.

"C'mon. there're a million like it" he said.

Iago glared at him.

"I was locked up in that thing FOR MONTHS!" he cried.

"There's no way I'd mistake it!"

The group paled.

If that was Jafar's lamp, then they needed to get a hold of it before someone let him out.

"Then we'd better go back and talk to that peddler" Aladdin said.

"Right behind you" Hikari said.

They ran after the peddler before he sold the lamp to the wrong person.

/

They found the peddler in the storage area that they hid in before.

Sora approached the peddler, who was still holding the lamp.

"Is there any way we can buy that lamp from you? He asked.

"Of course" the peddler said.

"That is…IF you can afford it"

They looked at Aladdin to see him nodding to the idea.

"No worries" Hikari said.

"Yeah" Donald said.

"We can pay you in royal treasu-"

Hikari cut him off by stepping on his foot with her boot.

The peddler caught on to what Donald was about to say and held the lamp closer to him.

"Might I be able to interest you in another fine lamp?" he asked.

"No, that's the one we need" Sora said.

The peddler sighed.

"Ah, well-perhaps I can be persuaded…IF you can bring me a treasure beyond even my imagination" he said.

"Something, say, fit for a sultain…"

Everyone made a face.

How could they get a hold a treasure fit for an emperor?

Hikari cleared her throat.

"Right. We'll get on that" she said.

"In the meantime, keep a hold of that lamp. And don't give it to anyone else, got it?"

They quickly went out and meet up with Aladdin.

He had heard everything that was said and ran his hand through his hair.

"Treasure?" he asked.

"That could be tricky…"

"There's lots at the palace" Donald pointed out.

"But it's not mine to take" Aladdin said.

"And I can't ask. I don't want to worry Jasmine or the sultan"

Iago suddenly came up with something.

"I got it!" he said.

"What about the treasure in the Cave of Wonders?"

That did sound like a good idea.

There was sure to be treasure that would please the peddler.

"All right, Iago" Aladdin said.

"And after we get the treasure, I might even believe your apology"

"You can count on me!" Iago said.

The followed the parrot to the outskirts of town to where the Cave of Wonders would be.

/

Meanwhile, Pete had made it to Agrabah as well.

Since Maleficent wanted everyone back on her team, he had to go find Jafar in the Cave of Wonders.

As he stepped into the cave, our heroes made their way to the entrance.

"This is it!" Iago said.

They all looked at the creepy cave that as shaped into a tigers head.

"Well, at least it isn't acting up this time" Hikari said.

They went inside, fully prepared to the caves traps and the heartless.

"I'm glad to see that things haven't changed since we were last here" Sora said.

He and Aladdin teamed up to get rid of a group of heartless while the others fended them off on their own.

"You make it sound like it's a good thing" Hikari said as she smashed her keyblade on a heartless' head.

"This just means that this world is in trouble again and that we have to find the keyhole"

They continued further into the cave and made it to an area that was lined up with water.

The only thing that was in the hallway was a statue that had an opening and a crystal floating in the air.

Abu took notice of the crystal and grabbed it.

When he did, the waterfalls disappeared and revealed a set of statues all line up.

Their eyes seemed to glow ominously.

Shards of ice dropped from above and tried to hit Abu.

The little monkey ran away from them with the crystal still in his grasp.

When he reached the statue, he placed the crystal into the slot and deactivated the statues.

"Well, that's one obstacle down" Sora said.

They went through where the statue once stood and saw a sign.

Hikari read it and found out that in order to get to the treasure room, they had to go through a set of trials.

"It never ends" she said.

"Just go with it" Sora said.

"Just think of it this way. The more you fight, the stronger you'll get"

Hikari gave him a dull look.

"Yeah, and the more I fight, the more tired I get" she retorted.

Sora scratched his head.

"Then just think of it as the more you fight, then the closer you'll get to Riku. You're not going to save him by being weak"

Hikari suddenly looked determined.

"Let's do it" she said.

Sora sweat dropped.

"_She has a one track mind" _he thought.

They accepted the trials and went through with them.

All they had to do was defeat the set of heartless before time ran out. After that, the floor would give out on them and they would be dropped to the next level.

They did this a couple of times before they made it to the treasure room entrance.

"All right, let's go get something nice for that peddler before he sells that lamp to someone" Aladdin said.

They entered the treasure room and were amazed by the sight.

Mountains of gold stood proudly against the walls while gems of every color of the rainbow glittered like little stars.

And in the center of the room stood a golden statue with various gems on it.

"There. That's the one" Aladdin said.

Donald ran up to it with a greedy look in his eyes.

Hikari rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Donald" she said.

"You need to control that wealth hunger side of you"

As she said that, she saw a pair of diamonds glitter out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh! Diamonds!"

Sora sweat dropped when he saw Hikari run for the diamonds.

"Women" he muttered.

As this was going on, Pete walked through the entrance of the treasure room.

When he spotted the heroes, he quickly hid within the shadows so they wouldn't see him.

He cursed his own luck.

Of course they had to be here before he did.

He just knew Maleficent was going to be furious with him.

"Oh, boy. It's perfect" Donald said.

"That guy's gonna like this"

"Sure looks valuable" Hikari said.

"Great!" Aladdin said.

"Now let's go get that lamp! We gotta keep Jafar bottled up, or he's going to destroy Agrabah!"

At the mention of the lamp, Pete's face perked up.

So the lamp wasn't here then?

He silently laughed at his own luck.

He quietly walked away so they wouldn't detect him and went to go get that peddler.

But just to make sure that the guys didn't get there before him, he summoned up a few heartless to distract them.

The room grew dark as the heartless surrounded them.

"Why does this always happen?" Donald asked.

"I've been asking myself the same thing" Hikari said.

Sora went into Valor form while Hikari went into Wisdom form.

"This should speed things up a bit" Sora said.

While he, Aladdin and Goofy took care of one group, Hikari and Donald took care of the other.

"The world's finest mages are teamed up again" Hikari said.

They did a combo move called 'fireworks' where Donald would summon up fireworks while Hikari would launch them.

It seemed to work since their group of heartless were finished off.

When the heartless were all gone, they quickly ran back towards Agrabah with the statue in hand.

/

Aladdin looked around the storage area where the peddler was suppose to be.

When he saw no one, he grew confused.

"Hello?" he called.

Just then, they heard voices outside.

"Stop your whining and hand it over!"

The group knew that voice.

"That's Pete!" Sora said.

They heard the peddler talking next.

"Ooh no! I'm trading it for treasure!" he cried.

"This lamp is going to bring me riches!"

They ran outside to see the peddler being chased by Pete.

They watched as they headed for the palace gates.

"Looks like Pete's causing trouble again" Hikari said.

They quickly ran to the palace so they could save the poor peddler.

/

The peddler held onto the lamp tightly as he was being chased by Pete.

He didn't let the cat's size affect him.

He was going to get royal treasure from those guys if he gave them the lamp.

Pete growled as the peddler ran from him.

"Lamp hog!"

"Go away!"

The group watched at Pete finally snagged the lamp from the peddler.

"I win!" he cried.

Iago quickly flew into action and snatched the lamp while Pete held it up.

"Nice one, Iago!" Hikari cried.

"Don't drop it!" Donald added.

Goofy saw Pete and the peddler chase after Iago.

"Look! Behind ya!"

Iago looked over his shoulder to see them close in on him.

When he did that, he failed to notice he was closing in on a wall and crashed into it, resulting in him dropping the lamp.

Pete laughed and picked up the lamp.

"Nice try, bird brain" he said.

"Just wait till Jafar's free! He's gonna make one beauty of a heartless!"

Sora and the others ran at him before he could set Jafar free.

As they did, the ground around them started to shake before Genie appeared.

"I'm HOME!" he cried.

Genie was so caught up in his happiness that he mistook Pete to be Aladdin.

"Al! It's been eon!" he cried.

He pulled Pete into a bone crushing hug.

"Al, you princely little muffin, you!" he cried.

"Cosmic travel can get so lonely without a friend. To think I left you forlorn and Genie-less…oh the HUMANITY!"

Aladdin sweat dropped as he saw his friend slapping Pete on the back.

"Genie?" he asked.

Genie didn't seem to hear because he was still looking at Pete.

"Hey, Al, you've been puttin' on weight?" he asked.

"Aw, of course , what am I saying? You're living in the palace now. I can just picture it now….wait, tell me. Am I being a pest? Just a big blue pest? Aw, who cares? I'm just so glad to SEE you!"

"Genie!" Aladdin said.

Genie finally noticed Aladdin and realized he was talking to Pete.

"Oh" he said.

Pete, who became dizzy from Genie's signs of affection, glared at them.

"I'll teach you to make a fool out of me!" he cried.

He slammed his fist down and brought forth two giant heartless that were known as the volcanic lord and blizzard lord.

"Looks like we've got ourselves some magical heartless" Hikari said.

Sora went into Wisdom form.

"Then let's just magic as well" he said.

"You know what they say, fight fire with fire"

Hikari rolled her eyes and went into Wisdom form as well.

"You take care of the blizzard lord" Sora said.

"I'll handle the volcanic one"

Hikari nodded and ran towards the freezing heartless with Goofy while Sora, Donald and Aladdin took on the fire one.

"Alright, let's melt this guy before we catch a cold from him" Hikari said.

She mainly used fire spells while Goofy flung his shield at the heartless.

Whenever the blizzard lord would swing its staff at them, Goofy would block it.

"It's not polite to hit a lady" he said.

He did a combo move with Hikari where she would cast his shield on fire and have him fling it like a Frisbee.

It went through the heartless and sliced it in half before disappearing.

"Let's go help Sora before he get's burned" Hikari said.

They ran towards where the volcanic lord was and saw that Sora was actually doing fairly well on his own.

However, when the heartless knocked his keyblade out of his hands, then that's when he was in trouble.

Hikari panicked and froze her keyblade with a blizzard spell.

"Sora!"

She flung it at him.

Sora grabbed it and threw it like a spear.

The heartless crumbled away on impact and let it's captured heart go free.

Hikari pumped her fist.

"Yay! We did-"

She stopped when she felt an unbearable pain coming from her chest.

Her knees buckled a bit and she grabbed her chest.

Sora and the others panicked and rushed over to her.

"You ok?" Sora asked.

"What happened?" Donald asked.

Hikari shook her head and breathed slowly.

"I don't know" she said.

"That just came out of nowhere"

Goofy looked at her worriedly.

"You're face it pretty pale" he said.

Hikari slowly breathed in and out as the pain slowly died away.

Her mind was frantic over this.

"_What's going on?" _she thought.

"_I thought this pain was only temporary. Why is my heart acting up like this?"_

When the pain finally died down, she looked at her friends.

"I'm fine" she said.

Sora looked concerned.

"You sure?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Positive"

They heard Pete growling and looked at him.

The cat was as angry as ever.

"You!" he cried.

"You've messed with me for the last time! I'm gonna get you yet!"

He ran off like the coward that he was.

Genie was cheering when the fight was over.

"Oh yeah!"

Carpet appeared with Abu flying on it.

The little monkey held Jafar's lamp tightly within his paws.

"Let's go hide that somewhere safe" Sora said.

They took it to an old cellar and sealed it inside a stone tomb.

Hikari magically added a few chains just to be on the safe side.

"That should hold him" she said.

They went back to the palace, where Iago was talking to Jasmine.

"I promise-you won't regret giving me another chance" he said.

Genie seemed skeptical about it.

"Uh, Princess Jasmine" he said.

"You sure you want that pigeon in the coop?"

"Oh, I think Iago's shown that he means well" Jasmine replied.

Genie shrugged.

"I guess you're right" he said.

"And how much trouble can one noisy bird cause?" Sora asked.

Jasmine looked at the group.

"What happens next?" she asked.

"Well, it was great seeing you all…but we still need to find Riku, my mom, and the King" Hikari said.

"I guess we'll be moving on"

"I hope you find them" Genie said.

"Us too" Sora said.

Donald looked around.

"Hey, where's Aladdin?" he asked.

"He ran off towards town, looking for Abu" Jasmine said.

"But he should be back soon"

"Abu!"

Everyone turned around to see Abu being chased by Aladdin.

The little monkey held a large gem within his hands.

"Catch him!" Aladdin cried.

The group body slammed the poor monkey.

Abu squeaked as he dropped the gem.

Donald saw this and became hypnotized by its beauty.

"He must have secretly stolen it from the cave of wonders" Aladdin said.

Donald held up the gem and examined it.

"I guess some things are hard to resist" Goofy said.

Donald quickly snapped out of it.

"Aw, who needs it!"

He acted like he threw it and held it behind his back.

Abu squeaked when he saw it.

Donald laughed nervously.

"I guess it got stuck" he said.

The gem suddenly glowed and revealed to be the keyhole to Agrabah.

Sora and Hikari quickly sealed the keyhole and prevented more heartless from entering this world.

"I guess it's time for us to go" Hikari said.

"Will you be back?" Jasmine asked.

"We will, we promise" Sora said.

They said their farewells before they headed off to visit another world.

/

**A/N: Looks like Hikari's heart is acting up again. Poor girl; she can't get a break. **

**We get to go to one of my favorite worlds next! Hope you're ready to see everyone from Halloween Town!**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**JA ne!**


	16. Halloween Town

Chapter 16: Halloween Town

**A/N: It seems like some of you are starting to figure out who Hikari's dad is. ^-^ I'm not saying anything until the time comes, so you'll just have to guess for the time being.**

**Now we're off to one of the coolest worlds besides Port Royal and the Pride Lands.**

**You better have been good because Sandy Claws is coming to town!**

**Here's another poll for you to vote on as well.**

**Aside from Hikari, who is your favorite OC in this story and why?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!  
**/

Sora looked at Hikari with worry as she took her seat on the Gummi ship.

She still looked really pale from her little heart attack episode and wondered if she was still in pain.

For all he knew, she could have been hiding it just so she wouldn't worry the others.

He had to admit, she had a lot of guts to come this far.

Even though she was in pain, she still wouldn't give up on finding Riku. Her love for him just kept her fighting.

When Donald came on the ship the keyblade master looked at him.

"You can drive for now" he said.

Donald looked confused, but when he saw Sora looking at Hikari, he understood.

He was worried about her too, even though she annoyed him.

"Let me know if she's still in pain" he said.

"I'll heal her then"

Sora nodded and went to sit next to Hikari.

The princess of light raised an eyebrow.

"Decided not to drive?" she asked.

Sora chuckled a little.

"I just wanted to see if you were ok" he said.

Hikari gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm fine, Sora. Really" she said.

Sora looked at her sadly.

"But, you've been having chest pains since we started this journey" he said.

"You weren't like this on our last one"

Hikari nodded in agreement.

"True" she said.

"But remember that this journey is twice as hard as the last one, so our enemies are twice as stronger. I could be just over exerting myself. It's no big deal"

Sora bit his lip.

If that was the case, then maybe he should give her a break and fight her battles.

He didn't want to see the person that he considered as a sister to keel over from fatigue.

Hikari seemed to sense what he was thinking and tapped him with her keyblade.

"Don't even think of excluding me from the fights" she said.

"This is much as my journey as it is yours. I know you want to find Riku too, but I also have to search for my mom. They were both sealed on the other side of Kingdom Hearts, so I have to find both of them. I don't care how much pain and suffering I have to endure, I'll pull through until the end"

Sora looked at her for a moment before smiling softly.

Hikari never did take 'no' for an answer.

"I guess there's no way to change your mind" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"I've come too far to quit now" she said.

"I won't stop until I see Riku and my mom again"

Sora gripped her shoulder.

"Just don't overdo it" he said.

"And remember that I'm always here to help you. We all are"

Hikari smiled.

"Thanks, Sora" she said.

Donald just rolled his eyes and he steered the ship to their next world.

/

Jack Skellington was walking through one of the many woods of Halloween Town with his dog, Zero.

He really didn't have a destination in mind, but he didn't care.

As he was walking, he spotted a tree with a Christmas tree door decorated on it.

He became fascinated by it and went up to it.

When he opened the door, he peered inside to find nothing at all.

Disappointed, he went to close the door, only to be sucked in by some magical wind.

/

The group was in their alternate costumes as they came to Halloween Town.

"Hey, this is Halloween Town, right?" Sora asked.

Hikari looked around the area.

"Let's see: dark creepy sky, scary looking tombstones, ominous atmosphere. Yep, it's Halloween Town" she said.

She resisted the urge to shudder.

"And of course it's still dark out"

Goofy patted her on the shoulder for comfort.

Donald shrugged.

"Well, it sure does look like Hallowee-"

He stopped when he saw Christmas lights leading towards the town square.

"What the heck?" Sora asked.

Zero appeared before them and floated around them.

"Hey! It's Zero!" Hikari said.

"How've you been, boy?" Sora asked.

The ghost dog barked at them and motioned for them to follow him to the town square.

"I wonder if he knows why there are Christmas lights all over the place" Hikari said.

They followed the dog towards the square.

/

Everyone was surprised when they saw the state the square was in.

Christmas lights glittered all over the place while wreathes hung in certain places.

Holly was wrapped around the neck of the fountain.

And to top it all off, a huge ramp stood in the middle of the square.

"Wonder what that's for?" Sora asked.

The group heard bells ringing in the air.

Donald looked up to find the source of the noise.

"It's Jack!" he cried.

Sure enough, the Pumpkin King came flying down in a creepy looking sled that was being pulled by skeleton reindeer.

Jack steered the sled towards the ramp and came to a stop when he came up to his friends.

He waved a bony hand at them as he got out.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy" he said.

"Welcome back, and Merry Christmas!"

The group raised an eyebrow.

"Merry Christmas?" Sora asked.

"Don't you mean 'Happy Halloween'?"

Jack smiled.

"Of course" he said.

"Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!"

He went to give them a scary face, but it just didn't have as much flair as it did before.

"Forgive me. I'm in a Christmas mood" he said.

"You see, I'm running the show again this year-but I need Sandy Claw's blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town"

The group huddled together while Jack was lost in his own thoughts.

"Sandy Claws?" Sora asked.

"I think he means Santa Claus" Hikari said.

Jack gestured towards the decorations.

"Aren't these decorations wonderful?" he asked.

"This year Halloween Town's going to handle Christmas too! But first! We have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Santa Claus can do without. Come along-I'll show you!"

He walked towards the Doctor's lab.

"A Halloween Town Christmas…" Sora said.

When the others studied the creepy decorations, they couldn't help but shudder with dread.

Sora seemed to think the opposite and grinned.

"Wanna go check it out?" he asked.

The group hung their heads, know there was no way they would back out of this one.

They slowly followed Sora toward the Doctor's lab where Jack had gone.

/

The lab was busy and bustling with people.

Dr. Finkelstein was going over one of his latest experiments while Lock, Shock and Barrel were carrying parts over to the examination table.

"Hello Doctor!" Jack said.

"Where's Sally?"

The doctor looked at Jack darkly.

"Can't you see…that I'm in the middle of an experiment?" he snapped.

He wheeled himself over to the examination table where various parts littered it.

Lock, Shock and Barrel carried the piece that they were holding over to the table.

"Hey, this is way too heavy!" Lock said.

"Then let's toss it!" Shock replied.

Doctor Finkelstein glared at them.

"You do and you'll be sorry!" he said.

"Now bring it over here"

The children ignored him and tossed the part on the table.

"Heave-ho!"

When the part landed on the table, it sparked and went up in smoke.

The children laughed as they ran past Sally, who entered the lab.

"Imbeciles!" the doctor cried.

"Now my experiment is ruined!"

Jack walked up to Sally with a huge grin on his face.

"Sally! Did you finish it?" he asked.

"I want to show my good friends"

The doll bit her lip and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry, Jack" she said.

"I…I need a little bit more time"

"Oh" Jack replied.

"Well, that's alright. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!"

Sally looked at him.

"But…Jack…" she said.

The Pumpkin King walked towards the door.

"I'd best be off" he said.

"I've got to go get Sandy Claws, right away! Wonderful to see you again. Good-bye for now"

Sally sighed when he left.

Sora was lost in thought.

"Go get Santa Claus…" he said.

Hikari sweat dropped when she saw the look on his face.

"_Uh oh. Not again" _she thought.

If anyone knew Sora, then they would know that he was a huge Christmas freak.

When he was a kid, his Wish List would be at least ten pages long.

She would get excited too, but she never went overboard like him.

"_No one can top his enthusiasm" _

Sally looked at them with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Please, you two" she said.

"I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this"

"You can say that again" Donald said.

"Jack's ideas do tend to lead to the dangerous side" Hikari admitted.

Goofy looked at Sora to see him still on Cloud 9.

"Sora?" he asked.

Hikari sighed and whacked him upside the head.

"Keep it together" she said.

"We don't have time to think Santa or what you want for Christmas"

Sora laughed sheepishly.

Jack came back real suddenly.

"Are those strange-looking fellows in the town square with you?" he asked.

Everyone looked at him.

"What 'fellows'?" Hikari asked.

"You know, the ones who wanted to spoil Halloween AND Christmas?" Jack asked.

"What are they called again…heartless?"

Everyone became alterative.

"They're definitely not with us" Sora said.

"But we can get rid of them for you. And then we can go see Santa!"

Hikari cleared her throat in irritation.

"But first, the heartless" Sora corrected.

They teamed up with Jack as they entered the town square.

/

The Mayor was frantic as he looked at the heartless.

"Now hear this, you…you things!" he said.

"Leave Halloween Town at once…by order of the Mayor!"

When the heartless didn't listen, he became nervous.

"Jack! Where are you?" he called.

"I'm only and elected official- I can't handle this myself"

Jack came up to him, much to the Mayor's relief.

"Jack!" he cried.

"We're on it!" Sora said.

The Mayor ran away as more heartless showed up.

Hikari used black magic as she rid of the heartless.

"There's no way to block magic, no matter how strong they appear"

Sora was a little antsy with his fighting since he wanted to see Santa.

He must have figured the sooner he got rid of the heartless, then the sooner he would see the jolly old man.

Jack used black magic as well and made the heartless burst like fireworks.

He suddenly got an idea and grabbed Sora and Hikari.

"Come on, fellas! Let's dance!" he said.

They keyblade master's looked at him with confusion.

"What?"

Jack grabbed Hikari by the waist and threw her up in the air.

"Give us a show!" he said.

Hikari screamed as she was thrown up and made her keyblade shoot out sparks as a nervous reaction. This in turn, got the flying heartless and made them burst into fireworks.

"Cool" Sora said.

Jack grabbed his hand and spun him around like a top.

" A Whirl and a Twirl!"

Sora spun all over the place and hit every heartless that came in contact with his keyblade.

When the 'show' was over, Jack grabbed Hikari as she came down, and Sora staggered over to the two of them and swayed in front of them.

"Ta Da!" Jack cried.

Sora quickly ran to the fountain and threw up the contents of his stomach.

Hikari gave Jack a dull glare when he put her down.

"A little warning next time" she said.

Jack just ignored her and looked at the damage the heartless had done.

"How is Sandy Claws suppose to relax with all this going on?" he asked.

He grinned when he came up with an idea.

"That's it!"

He looked at his friends.

"Sandy Claws needs bodyguards! Are you up for the task?"

Sora, who had just finished throwing up, was all grins.

"Sure!" he said.

Donald tapped his foot in annoyance while Hikari said.

"Even after being sick, he's back to his one track mind" she said.

/

Meanwhile, Lock, Shock and Barrel were taking a stroll in their walking bathtub.

"What should we bring along next time?" Lock asked.

"A bucket full of caterpillar!" Shock suggested.

"Or something even worse!" Barrel added.

As they were talking, they failed to notice that their walking boat came to a stop until it did.

They turned around to see Maleficent standing before them.

"Who's that?" Lock asked.

"Some old hag!" Barrel said.

Maleficent glared at them.

"Silence!" she snapped.

"A witch?" Shock suggested.

When Maleficent sent them a nasty glare, they cowered in fear.

The evil sorceress smirked.

"Hmm…perhaps you three could be of use to me" she said.

"Come along, all of you. I'll show you the true meaning of 'mischief'"

/

Back with the group, Jack was all grins at the prospect of having bodyguards for Sandy Claws.

"All right, bodyguards!" he said.

"Christmas Town is this way! The doorway is in the woods just past the graveyard!"

Hikari shuddered as they walked towards the woods.

"I've got a bad feeling about this" she said.

Sora looked at her funny.

"Come on, Hikari" he said.

"Don't you want to see Santa?"

Hikari gave him a dull look.

"As much as I want to, I don't at the same time" she said.

"This whole idea that Jack has with him doesn't sound really good. Remember when he tried to make a heart for the heartless?"

Sora just patted her on the back.

"You're over thinking things" he said.

"What could go wrong with seeing Santa?"

"A lot" Hikari muttered.

She looked at Donald and Goofy to see that they were thinking the same thing, but just chose not to say anything.

She just hoped that what Sally said wasn't true and that this little phase Jack was going through didn't have bad consequences.

As they made it to the hinterlands, Jack showed them the door that lead to Christmas Town.

Hikari had to admit, it was a pretty door with its shining lights and bright ornaments.

"Here it is!" Jack said.

"The door to Christmas Town. The spooks of Halloween can get tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this!"

Sora was practically drooling over the sight of the door.

"Beyond this door is a world filled with wonder…the like of which you've never seen!" Jack said.

"At first, I couldn't believe my eyes! Everything was so fresh and exciting!"

Sora couldn't take it any longer and was bouncing on his feet.

"C'mon! Just open it!" he said.

Jack happily did so and ushered for them to go first.

Sora took a running start and jumped through the hole.

Hikari, Donald and Goofy walked up to it and examined it for a sec.

Hikari held her hands out to them.

"Might as well go together" she said.

They all jumped in at the same time and spiraled towards Christmas Town.

/

When they came through the door, they all landed on the snow in a dog pile.

Sora quickly shook them off and was amazed by the view.

"Coool!" he said.

Hikari looked up at the sight and gasped.

Just down the hill, she could see Santa's workshop.

The whole place with twinkling with lights while the northern lights glowed in the background.

Donald suddenly became as eager as Sora.

"So where's Santa?" he asked.

"In his workshop" Jack said.

He started walking down the slope.

"Shall we?" he asked.

Everyone carefully made their way down the slope with Jack.

Since the snow was ankle deep, everyone kept wobbling over.

"Walking in ankle deep snow with pointed boots is not a good idea" Hikari said.

She almost fell over and grabbed onto Sora so she wouldn't fall face first into the snow.

Sora just laughed at her expression.

"You're such a klutz" he said.

Hikari glared at him and picked up some snow and made it into a snow ball.

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

She threw the snowball at him and watched with satisfaction as some snow clung to his spiky hair.

"Well you look ridiculous" she replied.

Sora made a face and created a snow ball as well.

Hikari shrieked and ran away from him as he tried to throw it at him.

They ended up having their own little snowball fight as they went down the slope that led to Santa's workshop.

/

The workshop was more breathtaking up close as it was from afar.

The lights seemed to be brighter and the smell on gingerbread wafted through the air.

It was like stepping into every child's dream.

"It's beautiful" Hikari breathed.

But that beauty was soon ruined when heartless showed up.

They seemed to adapt to the theme of this world because they took the shape of random toys.

"Here too?" Sora asked.

Everyone quickly pulled out their weapons.

"En garde, loyal bodyguards!" Jack said.

For looking like toys, the heartless really know how to inflict pain.

Some of them were equipped with drills while others had blades and guns.

Hikari hated the ones that took the form of a jack-in-the-box.

It would switch from being a toy soldier and fire off its gun to a jack-o-lantern and swing its scythes around.

"Stupid heartless and their adaption abilities" she muttered.

Jack quickly grabbed her by the wrist.

"Let's dance!" he said.

Hikari paled when he was that he was about to do that combo move with her and Sora.

She quickly noticed a carousal out of the corner of her eye and got an idea.

"How about we go for a spin instead?"

She quickly hit the carousel with her keyblade and watched as it spun like a top.

The heartless that were close to it got caught and were ultimately destroyed by the objects that made up the seats.

When the heartless were all gone, they realized they were in a big pickle.

"Christmas is in big trouble" Donald said.

"Gawrsh, we can't let anything bad happen to Christmas" Goofy added.

Jack pointed to the workshop.

"That's where Sandy Claws lives" he said.

He started heading towards the workshop where the jolly old mad resided.

"Should we tell him it's actually 'Santa Claus' and not 'Sandy Claws'?" Hikari whispered to Sora.

The keyblade master shook his head.

"Nah" he said.

"He's lost in his own world"

He suddenly got a goofy grin on his face.

"Let's go see Santa!"

He quickly ran after Jack like a kid on a sugar buzz.

Hikari just sighed.

"He'll never change" she said.

She, along with Donald and Goofy followed after them at a more leisurely pace.

/

When they entered Santa's house, all of Hikari's doubts over Jack's plans went right out the window.

There, sitting in front of her was none other than Santa Claus.

She never thought in a million years that she would actually see him in person.

She remembered when she was little, that she would try to stay up all night, just so she could get a glimpse of him.

But now that she saw him, she checked off one of the things that she never thought she would see.

Santa looked up from his list when he noticed he had company.

"Well, hello everyone" he said.

"Did you come to see if you're on my 'nice' list?"

Sora quickly went up to him with Hikari shyly following after.

"Your name?" Santa asked.

"um, Sora, sir" Sora said.

Santa looked at his list.

"Let's see…Sora…"

When he found his name, he frowned sadly.

"Well, according to my list, Sora… seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus…oh, that is unfortunate"

Sora gripped his head in despair as he remembered that time.

Hikari giggled, remembering that day too before looking at Santa.

"And your name, my dear?"

Hikari nit her lip shyly.

"H-Hikari" she said.

Santa looked at his list and found her name.

The jolly old mad gave her a warm smile.

"You've been a very good girl this year, my dear" he said.

"So has your brother. Be sure to send my regards to him"

Hikari smiled with joy.

"Thank you!" she said.

Donald looked at Santa.

"How about Donald and Goofy?" he asked.

Santa looked at his list and nodded.

"Oh boy!"

Jack came up to them.

"Am I on your list too, by any chance?" he asked.

"It's me, Jack!"

Santa's head snapped up at that name.

"Jack Skellington?" he cried.

The sound of glass breaking could be heard in the other room.

Santa quickly got up from his seat to investigate.

"What sort of trouble did you bring this time?" he asked.

Sora looked at Jack.

"This time?"

"it's a long story" Jack said.

Hikari saw a memory from his heart and saw him impersonating as Santa by dressing up and giving children presents.

She made a face when she saw a kid pull out a shrunken head from a box.

"Yikes" she muttered.

They quickly followed Santa to the toy room to see what all the commotion was all about.

/

The toy room seemed to be in order as they looked around.

Nothing seemed to be out of place and none of the machines were broken.

There didn't seem to be anyone, however, if the group looked up, they would have spotted Lock, Shock and Barrel standing with Maleficent.

"Why do we have to hide?" Lock asked.

"Silence!" Maleficent hissed.

She smirked darkly when she saw Hikari and her friends.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise" she said.

"That fool Jack brought Hikari and her friends with him. Now we can deal with all of them at once!"

"What do you want us to do?" Shock asked.

Santa must have heard them because he turned in that direction.

"Who's there?"

"Busted!" the kids cried.

Maleficent disappeared in green flames while the kids broke through a window using a bear trap.

"It's Lock, Shock, and Barrel!" Jack cried.

"Not those three…" Santa sighed.

Jack quickly looked at the jolly man.

"I assure you, they're not with us" he said.

Santa just placed his hands on his hips.

"Well, whatever the case, they've been quite naughty" he said.

"Catch them and bring them back here. They're going to get a lecture"

He started to head back to the main room of the workshop.

Jack sadly looked at him.

"uh…Mr. Claws? I wanted to talk to you about Christmas first"

"It'll have to wait" Santa replied.

"I need to see how things are progressing in my workshop"

Sora looked at Jack.

"C'mon Jack-let's catch those little pranksters!" he said.

"It seems like they need a time out" Hikari added.

Jack just sighed.

"Oh, all right then" he said.

They quickly ran out of the workshop so they could catch the little trouble makers.

They didn't have to look too hard.

Since they came from their walking bathtub, they just had to follow the footsteps it made in the snow.

"This won't be so hard" Sora said.

"But be on your guard" Hikari said.

"You never know what tricks they might have up their sleeves"

They quickly headed back to the tree that was connected to Halloween Town and continued to follow the trail until it brought them to Spiral Hill.

/

Maleficent stood near Spiral Hill with Lock, Shock and Barrel.

Since Hikari was here, her plans were ruined.

Didn't that girl know when to give up?

"I was so looking forward to destroying that ridiculous Christmas Town" she said.

"But now that Hikari and those imbeciles are here I think a change of plan is called for. Revenge before pleasure, after all"

"What kind of revenge?" Shock asked.

Maleficent grinned darkly.

"The magnificent, malevolent kind, of course" she said.

"That sounds really bad" Lock said.

"Like Oogie's kind of bad!" Shock replied.

"And that's super-duper bad!" Barrel added.

"Oogie Boogie?" Maleficent replied.

"That bag of incensed insects?"

She suddenly came up with something.

"How intriguing. And where might I find him?"

"Jack and his dumb, stupid friends destroyed him" Shock said.

"Ah yes, now I remember" Maleficent said.

"More intriguing still!"

She held up her staff and let it glow darkly.

"I believe I'll bring your master back for you" she said.

The three children laughed as Maleficent used her dark magic to bring back the burlap sack of a person.

/

"We have to find them quick!" Jack said.

"The sooner we do, the sooner I can talk to Sandy Claws about Christmas!"

Sora gave the skeleton as sheepish look.

"Uh….Jack? About that, I don't know if Santa will want you to-"

"Hurry!" Jack replied.

They quickly barged through the gates that lead to Spiral Hill where the little pranksters were.

/

Oogie Boogie laughed darkly as he looked at Maleficent.

"I feel like a million bugs!" he said.

"I really owe you one for this, Maleficent"

"Indeed you do, Oogie" the evil sorceress said.

"Do you remember Hikari, Sora, Donald and Goofy?"

The burlap sack snarled.

"Do I remember them? Ha! You're too much!" he said.

"I'll never forget what they did to me….what was it they did to me?"

"Squashed you like a bug!" Shock said.

"That sounds bad" Oogie replied.

"And Jack helped!" Lock added.

"Even worse!"

"They creamed ya!" Barrel said.

Oogie stomped his foot in the ground.

"That's right, that's right! That's one thing I won't be forgetting any time soon! It's the last thing I remember. And it's the only thing that I remember until I teach those clowns not to mess with Mr. Oogie Boogie!"

Maleficent smirked darkly.

"Yes…that's right" she said.

"That's the spirit. And I have the perfect plan in mind"

She looked towards where the tree that led to Christmas Town was.

"Have you ever heard of Christmas Town?" she asked.

She looked back at Oogie to see he was out like a light.

"Mr. Oogie!" Shock cried.

"Wake up, wake up!"

"We wanna see how bad you are!"

Maleficent held the bridge of her nose.

"It seems he needs more time to recover" she said.

"You three-stay here and keep Hikari and the others occupied. My heartless will help you. But do not fail me!"

She transported Oogie and herself back towards the Hinterlands.

Just as she vanished, Sora and the others ran up towards the hill.

"There they are!" Sora cried.

Maleficent's heartless appeared before them and looked like some sort of Frankenstein monster with a cage hanging beneath it.

Lock, Shock and Barrel quickly jumped into the cage and closed it.

"Why do kids like to mess around with dangerous things?" Hikari asked.

"Don't they know they'll just get hurt?"

"Let's worry about that later" Sora said.

"We need to get rid of that heartless before it devours their hearts"

Hikari sighed and followed after Sora.

"Stupid brats" she muttered.

"If I ever have any kids, I'll make sure they never end up like these three"

It was a little tricky fighting this heartless.

Even though Lock, Shock and Barrel sided with it, they were still in danger.

The heartless never really obeyed anyone and did as they pleased.

This heartless was no different.

Whenever they were fighting, it would pull one of the kids out of the cage and 'swallow' it to perform a special attack.

The kids didn't mind, in fact, they enjoyed it.

"They just like to live the dangerous life, don't they?" Sora asked.

When they got rid of the heartless, Lock, Shock and Barrel were still laughing.

"That was fun!" Lock said.

"Let's so see if Mr. Oogie is ready" Shock said.

They ran off to go find their master.

"Oogie?" Jack cried.

That name sounded really familiar.

"Isn't he the one who tried to take over Halloween Town before?" Sora asked.

"That's him" Jack said.

"I hope you're ready for trouble…"

"Don't we have enough trouble already?" Hikari asked.

/

Deep within the Hinterlands, Santa walked through the creepy woods.

Apparently, he just couldn't sit by and wait for Jack and the others to bring back Lock, Shock and Barrel.

Even though he told them to catch them, he worried for them. He knew what those kids were like.

Plus, he remembered Jack wanted to talk to him about something that dealt with Christmas.

"Confound it" he said.

"Now I've lost my way"

He stopped when he heard something.

When he didn't find anything, he sighed wearily.

"Oh, this is utter foolishness" he said.

"I should be getting ready for Christmas"

Sally, who had been hiding behind the trees, poked her head out.

"Is that you…Mr. Sandy Claws?"

Santa jumped a little in surprise and looked at Sally.

"Yes, but…please, call me Santa Claus"

Sally slowly walked up to him.

"Of course" she said.

"Mr. Santa Claus, I was hoping I'd find you here. You see…it's very important that you go back to Christmas Town. I'm afraid something terrible is going to happen if you don't"

Santa rubbed his chin.

"Well, I am behind on my preparations…all right" he said.

"Tell Jack I'll be waiting for him at my home. He had something to say to me about Christmas"

Sally looked at him with worry.

"But that's just it" she said.

"Please, go home and lock the door. And if Jack knocks, don't open it!"

As she was talking, Maleficent and Oogie were watching them.

"There. The large red one" Maleficent said.

"All I gotta do is kidnap him?" Oogie asked.

He really didn't know why Maleficent would want him, but he decided to go along with it.

"That's right" Maleficent said.

"Lock him up at once! Then begin destroying Christmas Town. That's sure to make Hikari and the other fools come running"

"And then there all mine!" Oogie finished.

Maleficent nodded.

"And in the meantime, I'll turn Santa Claus into a heartless!"

They both laughed at the idea.

Santa and Sally heard this and panicked.

"Who's there?" Santa called.

Oogie came running towards them and laughed darkly.

/

Sally quickly ran towards Spiral Hill to find Jack.

After Oogie ran for them, Santa pushed her out of the way and told her to run.

She had to watched at the bag of bugs dragged Santa back towards Christmas Town.

When she saw Jack and the others, she sighed with relief.

"What's wrong, Sally?" Jack asked.

Sally looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"Jack! Oogie kidnapped Santa Claus!" she cried.

Everyone panicked.

"Oh no!" Jack said.

"And he's headed for Christmas Town" Sally added.

Sora looked at Jack.

"C'mon Jack-let's hurry!"

They quickly ran back for the Hinterlands and went through the door that lead to Christmas Town.

/

Back at Santa's workshop, Oogie added a little flair to the whole place.

The toy factory lost its warm and joyful look and now looked like his old casino.

"I've done a little redecorating" he said.

He frowned slightly.

"Wait….something's not quite right"

He suddenly grinned.

"I know what it is! We just need to add some more Oogie flair"

Maleficent looked at Santa, who was tied up and gagged.

"I do hope our jolly old friend is looking forward to becoming a heartless"

Santa struggled against his binds and tried to get away, but with no success.

Just as she was about to transform him, Oogie ran past her and knocked her over.

The evil sorceress glared at him.

"Clumsy oaf!" she cried.

Oogie looked at her with annoyance.

"Are you still here?" he asked.

"Why don't you Oogie on back to where you came from? You're cramping my style!"

Maleficent growled at him.

"Have you already forgotten who brought you back, you insolent bag of bugs?" she snapped.

Oogie just taunted her.

"Sorry. Can't remember" he said.

Maleficent slammed her staff down.

"Very well, you ingrate!" she said.

"You'll rue the day you spurned my help!"

She disappeared in green flames and left Santa where he was tied up.

The jolly old man sighed with relief, knowing that he was saved for now.

Oogie just laughed and went back to work.

He stepped on one of the conveyer belts and messed with the machine.

He must have touched something because it exploded and went up in smoke.

The smoke escaped through the windows and wafted through the air.

Sora and the others saw this.

"That's Santa's house!" Donald cried.

They quickly ran to the house before it was too late.

/

As they entered the toy factory, they noticed the whole place changed thanks to Oogie.

"Where is that bag of bugs?" Hikari asked.

She got her answer when she heard laughter.

Oogie jumped down towards their level. As he did that, he knocked Sally to the lower ground where Santa was held at.

Oogie glared at Jack.

"Jack Skellington!" he said.

Jack looked furious.

"Oogie!"

The burlap sack laughed.

"You and I have a score to settle, Jack!" he said.

"Same for your little sidekicks!"

Jack glared at him.

"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?" he asked.

Everyone failed to notice that Sally was currently trying to save the jolly old man.

Oogie seemed to forgot all about Santa and was confused.

"Who? Sandy Claws?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

He went back down to the conveyer belt and finally noticed Santa.

"And why is this roly-poly red guy here?" he asked.

"Time to go, grandpa!"

He went to shove him down the conveyer belt where the toys landed in Santa's sleigh , but Sally distracted him but un sewing her leg and threw it in front of him.

"Huh?" Oogie asked.

Santa took this as the opportunity to ran away from him and head towards Sally.

"Hey!"

Oogie went to run after them, but he was block by Sora and the others.

The burlap sack glared at them.

"Why you…"

He ran back up to the conveyer belt and went through one of the portals that lead to a present processer that hung above them.

He laughed darkly and pushed the button that started the belts.

Everyone staggered a bit from the sudden movement. They went to get off, but they were blocked by a barrier.

Donald ran towards the portal that Oogie went through.

"Stop!"

He expected to end up where Oogie went, but he was surprised to find himself on the other conveyer belt.

"Huh?"

He ran through the portal and wound up where the others were.

"Not again!"

Hikari quickly noticed what was happening.

"The belts are rigged" she said.

"Oogie's controlling where the portals will lead us"

Oogie just laughed and threw a few of his exploding dice at them.

Everyone had to keep moving along the belts in order to get away from Oogie's tricks.

If they didn't then they would be hit by the spikes that were at the end of the belts.

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Sora said.

Donald cast his magic at Oogie, but the burlap bag was so high up that the spell wouldn't reach him.

Oogie just laughed as they struggled.

"Nice view from up here!" he called.

He set off a few more of his traps and watched as they ran from one belt to the other.

Hikari glared at him as she ran on the belt that he was hovering over.

As she looked at the present processor closely, she noticed that it was made out of glass. Very, very thin glass.

She smirked darkly as she got an idea.

"Hey, Sora, Jack!" she called.

"Let's dance!"

They caught on to what she was saying and performed their team combo.

Jack grabbed her by the waist and threw her up.

"Up you go!"

Hikari flipped through the air and landed on the present processor.

Oogie glared at her when she saw that he had a guest.

"Hey! Only one person allowed!" he said.

"Get off!"

Hikari smirked darkly.

"Ok, but you're coming with me"

She dug her pointed heal and smirked when she heard it crack.

The glass shattered around them and dropped them on the belt.

As soon as Oogie hit the ground, Jack and Sora quickly did their combo move.

As Sora spun like a top, his keyblade snagged into one of the treads that kept Oogie's burlap sack together.

The keyblade master tugged on the thread and made a big hole in Oogie's side.

Bugs started to pour out of the hole and onto the ground.

Oogie panicked and tried to close it up with his hands, but it was no use.

"No!" he cried as he started to sag to the ground.

"My bugs! My bugs!"

His 'brain' bug quickly crawled away from Oogie's body and tried to get away. However, he met his demise by Hikari's boot.

"Gross" Hikari said as she tried to wipe the guts off her boot.

Her hand suddenly curled into a fist when she felt the pain in her chest.

"_This is starting to get really old, really fast" _she thought.

Since her skin was pale on this world, Sora and the others wouldn't notice that she was in pain.

"_It's better that way" _she thought.

They walked out of the toy sorting room to check on how Santa was doing.

/

"All right, Christmas is safe again!" Sora said.

Jack smiled at that.

"Perfect!" he said.

"I'd better get down to business!"

Hikari sweat dropped.

So he didn't forget about talking to Santa?

"Leave that to Santa" Donald said.

"You should just stick to Halloween and spooky stuff" Hikari added.

She couldn't get the image of the little boy pulling a shrunken head from his present box out of her head. She didn't want Jack so scar anymore kids.

"Jack" Sally called out.

She came up to him with something in her hands.

"Here, it's done"

She held out a red uniform of some kind.

Jack grinned brightly.

"Wonderful!" he cried.

"Why, I love it! Thank you, Sally!"

He took the uniform from her and started to put it on.

Sally bit her lip as she watched Jack put on his version of the Santa suit.

"Jack…do you really have to do this?" she asked.

"But I make a splendid Sandy Claws!" Jack declared.

He buckled the pants before putting on the coat.

Santa walked out of his home and looked at Jack.

"Listen here, Jack Skellington" he said.

"You saved me, and Christmas as well. And for that, I'm very grateful. But please promise you won't cause any more trouble!"

He gave Jack a hard looked when the skeleton finished dressing up.

Hikari made a face.

"A skinny Santa doesn't look good" she whispered to Sora.

Sora nodded in agreement.

"And about that suit" Santa continued.

"Don't even think about taking over for me again!"

Jack gave him an innocent look.

"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws" he said.

"You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And- I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right"

Santa let out a tired sigh.

"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring" he admitted.

"But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all worthwhile, year after year after year. And you, Jack-you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that away from you?"

Jack frowned and scratched his cheek.

He never thought of that.

"We both have very important jobs, Jack" Santa said.

"Mine is to take care of Christmas, and yours is to take care of Halloween. So we each have to do the very best we can"

He smiled warmly.

"After all, you're the face of Halloween-Mr. Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King! The Knight of Nightmares!"

Jack smiled at that.

"And even though you're fascinated with Christmas, Jack…Halloween is your true specialty" Santa said.

"Don't you see? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention…and I know Christmas needs mine-urgently"

"You're right!" Jack said.

"I am the master of terror! And if Halloween has become too routine, all I have to do is think of something new that'll really make them scream!"

"Jack! Oh, Jack!"

The mayor of Halloween town came running up towards them.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" he said.

"We must go over the plans for next Halloween! I can't do anything without your approval!"

"So true" Jack said.

He walked alongside the Mayor and went over their plans.

"Good luck, Jack Skellington" Santa said.

"Well, there he goes" Hikari said.

"Yes, and I have a lot of names to check and preparations to finish" Santa replied.

As Jack was walking, his suit suddenly started to glow.

"Jack, this is no time for joking!" the Mayor said.

"This a bit too festive for our Halloween needs" the pumpkin king replied.

Sora and Hikari sealed the keyhole to Halloween Town thanks to Jack's suit.

Sora looked at Santa.

"We better get going" he said.

"Before you do, Sora…" Santa said.

"I believe there's a friend of yours…who-if I recall correctly- was the one who told you there's no such thing as Santa Claus?"

Hikari gasped as she remembered that.

/

_Eight years ago._

_Hikari hummed to 'Jingle Bells' as she skipped down towards the docks._

_It was almost Christmas and she was excited as ever._

_She had her list all set for the things she wanted from Santa, but she hoped that this year she would receive the gift she had been asking for since arrived on the islands._

"_Maybe I'll get it this year!" she said to herself._

_As she made it to the docks, she saw Sora and Riku arguing over something._

"_It's true" Riku replied._

_Sora stomped his foot in anger._

"_No it's not! He's real!" he cried._

_Kairi just sighed._

"_You two" she said._

_Hikari ran up to them._

"_Hey guys!" she called._

"_Are you ready for Christmas?"_

_Kairi smiled._

"_Yep. I just finished my list" she said._

_Riku placed his hands behind his head._

"_I really didn't start on mine yet" he said._

_Sora kicked at the ground._

"_I finished mine, but now I think it's pointless now"_

_Hikari raised an eyebrow._

"_How come?" she asked._

_Sora pointed a finger at Riku._

"_Because he said there's no such thing as Santa!" he cried._

_Riku rolled his eyes._

"_It's true and you know it" he said._

_Hikari gasped._

_There was no such thing as Santa?_

_How could that be?_

_If he wasn't real, then who always ate her milk and cookies and left her presents?_

_She sadly looked at the ground._

'_Is that why I haven't gotten the one present I've wanted most of all?' she thought._

_When Riku saw her sad face, he panicked._

_Nobody knew why, but whenever Hikari became sad, Riku would flip out._

_He quickly waved his hands in front of him._

"_D-don't be sad, Hikari!" he said._

"_I-I was only kidding! Santa's real! How else would you get all those presents that you put on your wish list?"  
Hikari looked up at him._

"_Really?" she asked._

"_He's real?"_

_Riku's face went beat red as he cleared his throat._

_He dug his hands into his pockets and looked out at the side of his eyes._

"_Y-yeah" he said._

_Hikari suddenly grinned._

"_Yay!" she cried._

_She started jumping up and down._

"_I knew it!" _

_Sora smiled as well._

"_I bet Riku just said that because Santa didn't give him what he wanted last year"_

_Riku blushed as he glared at Sora._

"_Shut up!" he said._

_Hikari giggled._

"_Don't worry, Riku" she said._

"_I'm waiting for Santa to give me the gift I keep asking for every year"_

_Riku looked at her surprised._

"_You are?" he asked._

_Hikari nodded._

"_Hopefully, I'll get it this year"_

_Sora placed his hands behind his head._

"_What do you want?" he asked._

"_A puppy?"_

_Hikari giggled._

"_It's a secret" _

/

Sora smiled as he remembered that too.

"Oh yeah…" he said.

"He did say that"

Santa smiled warmly at him.

"Be sure to give him my best wishes" he said.

Sora's grin faltered.

"We will, but…do you know where we can find Riku?" he asked.

"No…but don't give up!" Santa said.

"Remember, if you believe in Riku, you will find him. Just as you found me"

Hikari placed a hand over her heart.

"Just believe" she said.

Santa smiled at her.

"Oh, I nearly forgot" he said.

"Hikari, if I recall correctly, there was one particular gift you kept asking me to give you each year, but you never received it?"

Hikari's face went beat red.

So Santa remembered it after all this time.

"Y-yeah" she said.

Santa chuckled.

"I'm afraid I can't give you that particular gift" he said.

'"But if you continue on with your journey, you're sure to receive it soon. Just believe and it will come true"

Hikari laughed nervously as she rubbed her head.

"T-thanks" she said.

Sora wore a sly grin on his face.

"So what is it that you keep wishing for?" he asked.

Hikari blushed some more.

"None of your business!"

She quickly ran back towards Halloween Town to where the Gummi Ship was.

There was no way that she would tell Sora that every year, she would ask Santa if Riku would kiss her under the mistletoe.

/

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I had a lot of fun with this one. Now we get to see everyone as animals.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**And don't forget about the poll!**

**Ja ne!**


	17. Pride Lands

Chapter 17: Pride Lands

**A/N: Now we're heading to the world of my all time favorite Disney movie! Hope you're all ready to see everyone turn into animals!**

**Here's another poll for you to think on: What is it about Hikari that you like?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_In the great savannah desert, a young lion cub walked through one of the many canyons that filled the lands._

_He seemed to be happy to be out and enjoying the fresh air._

_However, that all changed when the ground started to rumble._

_Looking down, the lion cub noticed that a few pebbles were bouncing from the vibrations._

_The cub looked up and saw a stampede of wildebeests coming down one of the cliffs._

_The lion cub panicked. If he got caught in that stampede, he was done for._

_He ran as fast as his little legs would carry him and made it to a dead tree that stood in the canyon._

_He clung on for his dear life as the wildebeests ran by._

_One of them was such in a hurry, that it hit the tree and sent the cub flying into the air._

_Just as he was about to fall to his doom, an older lion jumped up and caught him before he would get hit by the wildebeests._

_The lion took him to the edge of the canyon and placed him up on a ledge so he wouldn't get hurt._

_The cub smiled in gratitude, but gasped when the older lion was pulled away by the stampede._

_The cub desperately searched the area for the older lion. He hoped that he didn't get trampled over._

_He suddenly saw the older lion jump up and clawed at the edge of the canyon and climbed his way up._

_The cub went up to the top so he could help the older lion._

_As the older lion reached the top, he was greeted to another older lion._

_The lion just smirked at his comrade who was hanging on for dear life._

_As the cub climbed to the top, his head whipped around when he heard the sound of roaring._

_He watched in horror as the lion who rescued him fell to his death._

"_NOOOOOOO!"_

/

"NOOOOOO!"

Simba woke with a start as he recalled the day that his father died.

The image of him falling off the cliff and being trampled by wildebeests was still fresh within his mind.

After so many years passed, it still felt like it was yesterday.

Looking over at his two companions, Timon and Pumbaa, he was glad to see that he didn't wake them from his nightmare.

Getting up, he walked away from them and headed towards the ledge of a waterfall.

He sadly looked up at the stars and saw the shape of a mighty lion in the night sky.

/

Off in the Elephant Graveyard, our heroes arrived to their new destination.

Everyone was surprised when they saw that they transformed into animals.

"Hey! Check us out!" Sora said.

Sora transformed into a lion cub with dark brown fur and had his spiky hair as a mane.

Hikari was a lion cub too, only with cinnamon colored fur. Her hair covered the top of her head much like Sora's and her red ribbon was tied to her tail.

Donald was a tropical bird and held his staff between his feet.

Goofy was a yellow tortoise and had his shield strapped to his shell.

Hikari looked at herself and the others.

"This is so weird" she said.

Sora made a face when he saw their surroundings.

"This place is kind of creepy though" he said.

Goofy gulped when he saw a group of hyenas surround them.

One of them laughed like an idiot as he looked at them.

"Heartless?" Sora asked.

"I dunno, Sora" Goofy said.

"I get the feeling that they might live here"

Donald laughed nervously.

"Don't mind us" he said.

"Just passing through. We won't be any trouble"

"Yeah! That's right!" Hikari added.

A female Hyena, by the name of Shenzi, circled around them.

"Don't be silly" she said.

"We'd love you to stick around for lunch"

Sora gulped.

"Um…we didn't bring anything to eat" he said.

"That's not gonna be a problem" the Hyena named Banzai said.

Hikari gulped when she realized what was going on.

"Um…I think WE'RE the lunch!" she said.

Ed laughed and smacked his lips.

The group panicked and tried to run away.

Since Sora and Hikari were on four legs now, it was difficult for them to run.

They tripped over their own paws and skidded across the ground.

"Going somewhere?" Banzai asked.

Donald and Goofy were pushed into a corner by the hyenas.

Hikari panicked when she saw Banzai went to take a bite out of them.

The hyena stopped when he heard someone roaring.

He scowled.

"Man, that Scar's got the worst timing" he said to himself.

"Just let him roar" Shenzi said.

Banzai shook his head.

"Nah, we better go see what he wants" he said.

"Sounds like he's grumpy enough already"

The hyenas fled, much to their displeasure.

Their future lunch sighed with relief/

"I don't know what that was about, but I'm glad it's over!" Sora said.

Hikari sighed as she walked over to Donald and Goofy.

"Everything's harder on four legs…" she said.

Goofy smiled.

"I found a trick to it. Here, lemme show ya"

He showed Sora and Hikari the proper way to walk on all fours.

"That's much better" Sora said.

"Now we just need to worry about how we're going to hold onto out weapons"

Out of curiosity, Hikari summoned hers and was surprised that it appeared in her mouth.

When she spit the key out, she gave Sora a dull look.

"Dose that answer your question?" she asked.

Sora sweat dropped at that.

"I guess" he said.

He looked around the area.

"We shouldn't stay here. Those Hyenas might come back"

They quickly left the cavern before they became someone's next meal.

/

As they walked through the Elephant Graveyard, Hikari shuddered as she saw all of the elephant skeletons.

"It's like we just stepped into a horror film" she said.

Sora was about to say something, but he was interrupted when he saw a lioness run past them.

The lioness roared as she was being chased by heartless.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sora asked.

Sora and Hikari ran towards the lioness and stood in front of her protectively.

"Stay back!" Hikari cried.

Everyone summoned their weapons and faced the heartless.

"_This should be interesting" _Hikari thought.

Since she didn't want to hurt her mouth by using her keyblade, she opted for magic.

Being a sorceress had its upsides.

She watched in amusement as Sora fought with his keyblade. He looked so ridiculous having his weapon in his mouth.

When the heartless were gone, they quickly dismissed their weapon.

"Definitely heartless" Sora said.

The lioness walked over to them.

"Thank you. You really saved me" she said.

"We're just glad you're ok" Goofy said.

"Did you see any other heartless around here?" Hikari asked.

"Heartless? Is that what they're called?" the lioness asked.

"I'm not sure if there are any others. I don't usually hunt outside the Pride Lands"

"Pride Lands?" Donald asked.

Hikari suddenly became hopeful.

"Hey, do you know if a guy named Riku is there?" she asked.

Just the thought of Riku as a lion sent shivers down her spine.

"_A girl can dream" _she thought.

Sora rolled his eyes.

"Or some bad guys in black hoods?" he added.

"Or maybe this really big bully named Pete?"

The lioness shook her head.

Sora sighed.

"Oh well" he said.

"We might as well go take a look, anyway"

The lioness panicked.

"Wait-the Pride Lands are dangerous" she said.

"Scar and the Hyenas have made things unbearable for everyone. There's no food left. They've driven off the prey. We're about to starve"

Sora smirked.

"We can handle a little danger" he said.

"You just saw us beat those heartless, didn't you?"

"Don't get too full of yourself, Sora" Hikari warned.

The lioness nodded.

"I guess you're right…" she said.

"You could be just what this kingdom needs. Maybe you can help us"

"You mean take on this Scar guy and all those Hyenas?" Goofy asked.

"Scar?" Donald asked.

"He took over when out last king, Mufasa, died" the lioness explained.

"So you're saying this guy is your king" Hikari said.

"You want us to take down your king?"

The lioness nodded.

"Wait just a minute" Sora said.

The heroes huddled into a group.

"We can't just go around knocking kings off their thrones" Hikari said.

Sora smiled.

"But then again, if they see that I'm stronger than their king, maybe they'll ask me to be their next king!" he said.

"Sora" Goofy warned.

Sora laughed nervously.

"I'd have to refuse, of course" he said.

Hikari gave him a look.

"What makes you think you're stronger than all of us?" she asked.

"You're nothing without us. We do as much work as you do, maybe even more"

"I was just kidding, Hikari" Sora said.

"We all know you're the brains of the group"

Hikari smiled proudly.

"You're damn right that I am" she said.

She looked at the lioness.

"Still, I'd like to see the Pride Lands, so we shouldn't mind giving them a paw"

Sora went up to the lioness and told them their plan.

"There he goes again" Donald said.

The lioness smiled at their plan and ran off.

"She's gonna go on ahead and tell the others" Sora said.

"We're suppose to meet her at a place called Pride Rock"

"That shouldn't be too hard to find" Hikari said.

"If it's a kingdom, it's bound to stick out like a sore thumb"

They ran out of the Elephant Graveyard and went to go find Pride Rock.

/

Just like Hikari predicted, they found Pride Rock right away. All they had to do was look at the giant pointed rock and head over there.

The whole kingdom was filled with lionesses all lounging around with nothing to do.

The group couldn't blame them.

After seeing the state that the Pride Lands were like, they pitied the kingdom.

Everything looked dead and barren.

The trees were like skeletons with their leaves gone. The grass was so dry that it scratched at their paws when they walked on it.

When they made up on Pride Rock, they lionesses woke up from their nap and looked at them hopefully.

The lioness that they saw before, whom they found out was named Nala came over to them with a shaman monkey.

"That's them" she said.

The monkey examined them for a moment as if he was searching for something.

When he finished, he went over to Nala and whispered something in her ear.

Nala looked sad and lowered her head.

The lionesses took notice at Nala's sudden change and hung their heads sadly.

They watched as the shaman monkey walked away.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

"I told Rafiki you might be able to help us force Scar and the hyenas out of the Pride Lands" Nala said.

"But he's says it won't work. You see, whoever saves the Pride Lands will be our next king…and he has to have the right qualities"

"Meaning?" Sora asked.

"I think she means you're not cut out for the job, Sora" Goofy said.

Sora sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry you came all this way" Nala said.

"It's okay" Hikari said.

Nala crept closer to them.

"You better go before Scar finds out you're here" she whispered.

"I'm really sorry"

The group quickly headed for the entrance of Pride Rock, but they stopped by a group of hyenas.

"Hey-a snack" Banzai said.

"Snack? Nah, we got up a four course meal" Shenzi said.

The sound of a lion roaring made them look up.

"Look at that, here comes Scar-the king" Banzai said.

They whipped around to see an evil looking lion standing proudly at the top of Pride Rock. He grinned evilly as he saw his little intruders.

Next to him, the group saw a very familiar face.

Pete was here at the Pride Lands as well, and he took the form of a very fat lion.

"Pete's here too!" Sora said.

"Yeah, and he really doesn't fit with this world" Hikari said.

"There is no such thing as a fat lion"

Scar jumped from his perch and landed in front of the group.

Pete followed after, only in a clumsy matter and landed on his back.

"My back..." he muttered.

"What are you doing here?" Hikari ordered.

"Aww, the cute little kitty's worried about me" Pete cooed.

"If I were you, I'd be more worried about my friends!"

They hyenas closed in on the group to prove a point.

Scar looked at the lionesses.

"Go on ladies- you've got some hunting to do" he said.

Nala glared at him.

"The herds on the move, Scar" she said.

"We can't hunt in a land with no prey"

"No prey?" Scar asked.

"Then what do you call this?"

Sora glared at him.

"We're not prey!" he declared.

Scar just flashed a toothy grin.

"Oh. Nice and fresh too" he said.

Hikari got into a pouncing stance.

"You've just used up all of your nine lives, pal" she growled.

Pete and Scar just laughed at her.

"Well, they're all yours, Scar" Pete said.

Scar jumped to pounce on them, but he was thrown back by Nala.

"Run!" she cried.

They group shoved their way past the hyenas with Nala on their tail.

/

When they at a safe distance from Pride Rock, Nala looked at them sadly.

"I'm sorry I got you involved with this" she said.

"It's no big deal" Hikari said.

"Aw, it's not your fault" Donald said.

"Sora wouldn't make a good king"

Sora glared at him.

"Hey! I had to give it a try, right?" he asked.

"So you DID want to be king!" Goofy declared.

Sora laughed nervously.

"Well…you know…" he said.

Hikari rolled her eyes and looked at Nala.

Uh, Nala, isn't there anybody else who could be king?" she asked.

Nala looked at the ground sadly.

"There was…" she admitted.

"But he died…when he was just a cub. He was the son of our last king, Mufasa. If only Simba were here…"

Hikari gasped.

Simba?"

She knew who that was.

Simba was the very first summoning ally that Leon gave her.

He helped her out greatly during their first journey.

Sora and the others were surprised as Hikari was.

"Simba?" Sora cried.

"But Simba's just fine!"

"He was fighting right beside us not that long ago" Hikari added.

Nala looked like got slapped in the face.

"You mean Simba's alive?" she cried.

"But where is he?"

Sora shook his head.

"That…we don't know" Sora said.

Nala smiled.

"Still…Simba's alive! I can't believe it…" she said.

"Please-tell me more about him"

Hikari smiled.

"No prob" she said.

Nala nodded.

"But first, we should get away from Scar" she said.

"We'll go through Wildebeest Valley. He won't follow us there"

She lead the way to the valley while Sora and Hikari told her about their trusted partner.

/

Said partner was lying next to the waterfall of his home away from home.

Images of the nightmare he witnessed flashed through his mind.

He was so lost in his own world, that he didn't even notice Timon and Pumbaa until they talked to him.

"Hey, why the long face, Simba?" Timon asked.

"You gotta lighten up and live a little!"

Simba looked away from them.

"y-yeah" he said.

Pumbaa tilted his head.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked.

"Let me guess, the past?" Timon added.

Simba looked away. He wasn't going to tell them about his nightmare. Why drag his friends into his own personal troubles?

Timon and Pumbaa were oblivious as they smiled at their comrade.

"Hakuna Matata!" they cried.

Simba gave them a weak smile.

At least they tried to cheer him up.

Yet, no matter what they did, it wouldn't change the mood he was in.

He slowly got up and walked away from them.

He walked over to one of the ledges that looked out at the oasis that he lived in and landed in a heap on the ground.

This caused him to kick up some loose plants and had them blow in the wind with no destination in mind.

/

Back with our heroes, they group made it through the valley.

They told Nala all about Simba and how he helped them out during their travels.

The lioness was so relieved to hear that her childhood friend was still alive.

"If we can just find him, then the Pride Lands will be restored" she said.

"Yeah, but the only problem is we don't know where he is" Hikari said.

"With a place as big as this, it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack"

Sora sighed.

"If only we had a clue" he said.

/

Meanwhile, Rafiki sat up on the branches of his little hut that resided next to Pride Rock.

As he was enjoying the breeze, he noticed some grass floated within the wind.

Sticking his hand out, he grabbed a handful and examined it.

When he caught a familiar scent, his eyes went wide.

He knew whose scent this was.

Jumping back down to his hut, he went up to a mural that depicted all of the kings that ruled Pride Rock.

He went over to Simba's picture and painted in a mane around his face. This was proof that he was the next king of Pride Rock.

"It is time" he said.

He quickly ran out of his hut and went to chase after Nala and her friends.

/

As the group was walking, Nala told them about Simba's past.

"When Simba's father, Mufasa, died, we were told that Simba died alongside him" Nala said.

"Who told you that?" Sora asked.

Nala looked at the ground.

"Scar" she said.

Rafiki managed to catch up with them in time.

"It is time!" he cried.

He pointed towards where they would find Simba.

Nala's face lit up.

"Hurry!" she cried.

"Nala! Wait up!" Sora cried.

They quickly ran after the lioness as she headed for the oasis where Simba surely resided.

/

"Man, running on four legs is really tiring" Hikari whined.

"This is worse than swimming in Atlantica!"

Sora rolled his eyes and was about to scold her, but stopped when he saw the tropical oasis that Rafiki led them to.

Hikari looked at him in confusion, but when she saw what he was looking at, she gasped.

She thought the scenery looked so beautiful with its rich tropical trees and vast waterfalls.

"Wow" she breathed.

They went further into the oasis in hopes of finding their lion friend.

"This place is too good to be true" Hikari said.

Just then, a group of heartless appeared.

"I spoke too soon"

They quickly finished them off before they could do further damage.

Sora moved his jaw around.

"It feels weird to hold my keyblade in my mouth" he said.

"Not to mention wrong on so many levels" Hikari added.

They kept walking until they made it to the clearing of the oasis, where they were greeted by a familiar lion.

Simba was surrounded by a group of heartless .

When one tried to close in on him, he let out a mighty roar and caused them to disappear.

Sora and Hikari smiled when they saw their old summon ally.

"Simba!"

The mighty lion obviously didn't recognize them since they were in animal form and got into a pouncing stance.

Sora and Hikari looked upset.

"I-it's us! Sora and Hikari!" Sora said.

"Donald and Goofy are with us too" Hikari added.

Simba raised an eyebrow and slowly walked up to them.

When he saw their faces better, he immediately recognized their faces.

"Sora! Hikari! Donald! Goofy!" he cried.

He pounced on Sora and Hikari .

Hikari giggled when Simba nuzzled her.

"What happened to you?" Simba asked.

Nobody was able to answer because they heard screaming in the jungle.

"Help Simba! HELLP!" Timon cried.

"She's gonna eat us!" Pumbaa added.

Simba shot up when he heard his friends in trouble.

"Timon! Pumbaa!"

He looked at his friends.

"I have to go help my friends" he said.

"We'll back you up!" Sora cried.

They quickly ran back to the jungle before Simba's friends became snacks.

/

Timon and Pumbaa shook with fear as Nala closed in on them.

After not getting food for so long, her animal instincts kicked in.

She went to pounce on them, but she was shoved back by Simba.

A huge fight broke between them as they fought over the two animals for different reasons.

Sora the others watched in horror as the two childhood friends fought with each other.

They had been separated for so long, that they didn't know who the other was.

"Simba! Wait!" Hikari cried.

"Stop!" Donald shouted.

"It's Nala!" Sora said.

"Don't you recognize her?"

When Nala pinned Simba to the ground, he realized this was his childhood friend.

"Nala?" he asked.

Nala freaked out from hearing a supposed stranger say her name.

Simba broke into a grin as he looked at her.

"It's me, Simba!"

Nala smiled brightly when he said that.

"Simba!" she cried.

They began to playfully pounce each other.

"You're alive!" Nala cried.

Timon, who stood off to the side, stare dumb founded at what was happening.

One minute this lioness was trying to eat him and then the next, she was Simba's friend?

"Hey! What's goin' on here?" he asked.

He looked over his shoulder to see Sora and the other right behind him.

He and Pumbaa screamed before hiding behind Simba.

The lion just smiled as he looked at his animal friends.

"Don't worry" he said.

"They're all friends of mine"

Timon gulped and slowly walked away from Simba.

He looked at Sora and the others with caution.

"So that means…nobody's planning to eat anybody else for lunch, right?" he asked.

The group nodded, much to Timon's relief.

Pumbaa, on the other hand was still shaking like a leaf.

"Are you sure they don't wanna eat me like some kind of pig?" he asked.

"We won't…but you are a pig, right?" Sora asked.

Pumbaa took offense to that.

"Call me Mr. Pig!" he ordered.

The group laughed at that.

When the laugher died down, Simba looked at his friends.

"Could you guys excuse us for a few minutes?" he asked, referring to Nala.

Timon rolled his eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?" he asked.

They watched as the two lions walked away to catch up.

/

Nala looked at Simba when they made it to the clearing.

She was beyond happy to see him alive, but now things had to get serious.

"Simba, you've got to come back o Pride Rock" she said.

"I thought Sora and Hikari might be able to help, but you're the only one who can save us from Scar"

Simba looked at the ground when they stopped walking.

Even though he wanted to return to his home, he simply couldn't.

Images of his father dying flashed through his head.

"I can't go back" he said.

Nala looked surprised.

"Why?" she asked.

Simba gave her a weak smile.

"Hakuna Matata" he said.

"It's something I learned out here. Sometimes bad things happen and there's nothing you can do about it"

Nala looked at him sadly.

"Simba…" she said.

She didn't get to talk to him for a lot longer because the rest of the group came in conga lining with Timon leading.

"Hakuna…" he said.

"Matata" the rest chanted.

"Hakuna…"

"Matata"

Nala walked past them sulking.

"He's not the Simba I remember" she said.

"Something about Hakuna Matata…"

They watched as she walked back into the jungle and headed back to Pride Rock.

Moments later, Simba walked past them with a sad look on his face.

"I wonder what's wrong with him?" Sora asked.

"Maybe something's on his mind" Hikari offered.

They watched as the sun started to set.

"Let's rest here for tonight" Donald said.

"It would be too dangerous to head back to Pride Rock at night"

Everyone settled for the night after a long trip.

Hikari sighed contently as her body relax on the rich grass.

Despite being a lioness cub for only a day, her body ached.

"_When I return to my human form, I'm going to be dancing on my own two feet" _she thought.

/

While everyone was asleep, Simba was wide awake as he looked at the stars.

Memories of his father weighed heavily in his head.

He looked at the ground sadly.

"My father's dead" he said quietly.

"And it's because of me…it's my fault."

He thought about what Nala said earlier and shook his head.

"I can't go back…it won't change anything"

He looked up at the stars and remembered a time when he would stay up late with his father.

/

_Simba happily sat on his father's back as they gazed up at the night sky._

_He enjoyed these moments where he could spend time with his dad._

_Mufasa smiled at his son._

"_Look at the stars" he said._

"_The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you…and so will I"_

/

Despite it being a fairy tale, Simba looked up at the heavens.

"Father…are you there?" he called out.

He was expecting to get nothing, but he was beyond surprised when he saw his father's spirit up in the sky.

"Simba…you have forgotten who you are" Mufasa said.

"You must take your place in the Circle of Life"

Simba looked at his father sadly.

"How can I go back?" he asked.

"I'm not who I used to be"

"Remember who you are" Mufasa said.

When his image started to disappear, Simba panicked.

"Father!"

All he saw was the stars.

When he heard movement, he smirked slightly.

He should have known his friends would worry about him.

"You can come out now" he said.

He turned around to see all of his friends.

He could tell by the look on their faces that they heard everything.

He walked up to his friends.

"I'm going to face my past" he said.

"I could use your help"

Timon sniffled a little.

"He really is a king…" he said.

As the morning sun crawled up over the mountains, they hit Simba and gave him this aura of importance.

The king of Pride Rock had arrived.

"Let's go" Simba said.

They nodded and ran towards the jungle to head back to Pride Rock.

Just as Hikari was about to run with them, she stopped when she looked up at the stars that were still in the sky.

A memory of her father appeared in her mind.

/

_Hikari stifled a yawn as her father carried her._

_It was really late at night and was way past her bed time._

_Leon rubbed his eyes as he held his father's hand._

_For once, he didn't have a scowl on his face as he walked with his parent, which showed how tired he really was._

"_Where are you taking us…dad?" he asked._

_He even didn't call his dad by his name, which furthered his point._

_Hikari's father just chuckled as he led them to one of the gardens that were outside the castle._

"_There's something that I want to show you" he said._

_When they reached the garden, he sat on a bench._

_Hikari's eyes felt heavy as she tried to keep them up._

_Her body shifted a little when father pointed up towards the sky._

"_Look" he said._

_The two children looked up and saw millions of stars glittering the sky._

"_Wow…" Leon breathed._

"_So pretty" Hikari said._

_Their dad held them close as the cool night air hit them._

"_You see all those stars out there?" he asked._

"_Well, believe it or not, they're actually worlds. Somewhere out there, a person is looking up at the sky and seeing all these other worlds, including ours"_

_Leon and Hikari looked amazed._

_So their world looked like a star to someone else on a different world._

_Their dad smiled._

"_Even though they appear far away, they all share the same sky" he said._

"_So no matter where you are, you're always connected to one big heart that connects the worlds. We're all connected"_

_The two children watched the stars for a bit longer before they fell asleep in their father's arms._

/

"We're all connected" Hikari mumbled.

And her father was right.

After all of the worlds she had seen and the friends she had made, they were all connected by this great heart that made the worlds.

"Hikari! Hurry up!" Sora called.

"Coming!" Hikari said.

She looked up at the sky one last time before chasing after her friends.

/

Having Simba on the team was really cool for Hikari.

While he used to be a summoning ally last time, this time he was a real ally.

He was a real help for the group when it came to fighting the heartless. He would tear them apart with his claws or blow them away with his mighty roars.

This was an upside for Sora and Hikari since they really didn't want to fight.

If they were going to fight Scar, they wanted to save their strength and their bodies, for the pain that was to come.

Even though they were keyblade masters, they could only go so far as being animals.

When they reached the Pride Lands, Simba was devastated to see the sorry state that his home was in.

What once used to be a grand utopia was now a barren waste of land.

Scar had abused his power as king, and now he was going to pay.

"Hey, wait a minute" Timon said.

"We're going to fight your uncle for THIS?"

Simba nodded.

"Yes" he said.

"This is my home"

They quickly ran towards Pride Rock, where Scar was about to meet his demise.

/

The corrupted king of Pride Rock smiled darkly as he looked at his kingdom.

After ruling under his brother for so many years, it was finally his turn to taste the powers of a king.

When he heard someone roaring, he whipped his head up to the top to see Simba standing proudly above him.

He gasped in horror, thinking it was Mufasa, but paled when he realized it was Simba.

He backed away when his nephew jumped down to his level.

"Simba! You're…alive!"

Simba and his friends glared darkly at him.

"This kingdom doesn't belong to you" Simba declared.

"Simba is the rightful king" Nala added.

Simba closed in on his uncle.

"The choice is yours, Scar" he said.

"Either step down or fight"

Scar dramatically sighed.

"Must this all end in violence?" he asked.

He walked past him and peered over his shoulder at him.

"I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member, Simba…"

Simba ground his teeth in frustration.

He knew his uncle was trying to rub his fur the wrong way.

"I've put the past behind me" he said.

He wasn't going to let his sorrow or regret cloud his judgment. If being king would atone his sins of killing his father, then he was going to do it.

Scar just chuckled darkly and looked at his nephew's friends.

"But what about your faithful subjects?" he asked.

"Have they?"

Nala raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Simba, what is he talking about?" she asked.

Scar circled his nephew when he saw the despair on his face.

"Go on. Tell them who's responsible for Mufasa's death!" he declared.

Simba sadly looked at the ground.

Despite saying that he put the past behind him, he could never push the day of his father's death behind him. He couldn't even if he want to. That's how deep his sin was.

He hung his head in defeat.

"I am" he said.

Everyone gasped in horror.

That's all that Scar needed to make his plan work.

"He admits it!" he cried.

"Murderer!"

He started closing in on his nephew and watched as Simba backed up to the ledge of Pride Rock.

"If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive" Scar cried.

"Do you deny it?"

Simba shook his head desperately.

"No!" he cried.

"But it was an accident!"

Scar just chuckled as he kept pushing his nephew closer to the edge.

"You're in trouble again, Simba" he cooed.

"But this time, Daddy isn't here to save you. And now everyone knows why!"

Simba lost his footing and was clinging to the edge of Pride Rock.

"Simba!" Sora and Hikari cried.

Scar smirked as he saw his nephew struggle.

"Now this looks familiar. I think I've seen this before" he said.

He broke into a grin.

"Oh, yes! I remember. This is the way your father looked…before he died"

He dug his claws into Simba's paws and leaned close to him.

"And here's my little secret" he whispered.

"I killed Mufasa"

Simba's eyes went huge as he heard that.

Memories of his father falling from the cliff ran through his head.

All this time he had blamed himself for the death of his father. All this time he felt like he was the one who killed. And all this time, it was actually his uncle who killed Mufasa and framed his death on him.

In his anger, he pulled himself back up on Pride Rock and pined Scar underneath him.

"Murderer!" he cried.

"Tell them the truth!"

Scar was going to give in to his nephew's orders, but when he felt his windpipes being crushed, he knew he had no choice.

He was not going to be killed like this.

"I killed Mufasa!" he cried.

Just as he said that, all hell broke loose.

Hyenas came pouring out of Pride Rock and surrounded the group.

Scar used this to get away from Simba and escape.

Simba went to go after him, but he was stopped by Banzai, Shenzi and Ed.

Sora and Hikari quickly ran to his aid.

"Simba! You get Scar!" Hikari cried.

"We'll handle these guys!" Sora added.

Simba nodded and chased after his uncle.

Banzai just laughed at the keyblade masters and they closed in on them.

"You just used up your nine lives little kitties" he said.

Sora smirked when he saw Timon and Pumbaa running towards them.

"Actually, it's the other way around" he said.

He laughed when he saw Pumbaa plow through them.

"Gang way! Coming through!" Timon cried.

They did a little a victory cheer which turned into a scream as the trio of hyenas chased them into the king's den.

Sora and the others ran after them to rescue them.

/

Timon and Pumbaa shivered in fear as the hyenas closed in on them.

Ed laughed in delight while Banzai smacked his lips.

Shenzi was the boldest of them and took a step closer.

"Ladies first" she said.

She went to snap at them, but yelped when she felt the whole left side of her face flare up in pain.

She growled when she saw that it was Hikari who scratched her face.

The keyblade mistress growled as well and got into a fighting stance.

The group broke up into groups to get rid of the hyenas faster.

Donald and Goofy got Ed.

Sora got Banzai.

And Hikari got Shenzi.

The female hyena got into a fighting stance as well and glared at her.

"You messed with the wrong hyena" she hissed.

Hikari just glared at her.

"And you messed with the wrong sorceress" she responded.

They pounced at each other like a pair of wild animals.

Hikari yelped a few times when Shenzi managed to bite her, but she got her back by hitting her with her sharp claws.

When Shenzi managed to get her in the face, she jumped back and went all out on her.

She cast fire to her claws so they glowed from the heat.

Shenzi just laughed, oblivious to what was about to happen to her.

"What's the matter? Did I ruined your face?" she cooed.

Hikari just glared at her.

"No" she said.

She swiped her flaming paw across the hyena's face.

"But I ruined yours"

Shenzi yelped in pain as the fire burned deep into her skin.

When the trio of them were defeated, the hyenas fled from Pride Rock for good.

Nala quickly ran to them to see if they were ok.

"Where's Simba?" Sora asked.

Nala pointed towards an opening in the back of the cave.

"Up there" she said.

Our heroes quickly ran up the slope to see Simba extract his revenge on Scar.

/

The two lions circled each other like a set of angry cats when the group made it to the top.

Both seemed to be worn from fighting.

This was a life or death battle and both of them wanted to come out victorious.

They swiped at each other and fell to the ground.

Scar jumped up in the air and went to pounce on Simba.

The young lion was one step ahead of his uncle and quickly shoved his uncle over the ledge before he could land the finishing blow.

The group watched as the treacherous king fell to his doom.

Simba smiled when he saw his friends running towards him.

"You're ok!" Hikari cried.

It was a joyous moment for the heroes.

Scar was finally dead and Simba was the rightful king.

"Aw, that was just a sneak preview!"

Everyone whipped their heads around to see Pete climbing up to the top.

"'Cause this ain't over-not by a long shot" he continued.

He pointed towards the ledge where Scar had fallen and revealed the dark king climbing to the top.

Hikari gasped in horror when she saw darkness coming off of him.

"Anger and jealousy turned the king of Pride Rock into a heartless" Pete explained.

"Oh, your kingdom's gonna rise again…but this time as the Pride Lands of Darkness!"

Simba looked darkly at the empty shell that was once his uncle.

"That's what you think!" he cried.

Hikari sadly looked at Scar as the darkness engulfed his heart.

Just seeing that reminded her of Riku.

Back when he sided with Maleficent, he opened his heart to the darkness in order to become stronger.

If it wasn't for that tiny ounce of light that still remained in his heart, he would have become Ansem's puppet.

But when she looked at Scar, she knew there was no way to save him from the darkness. He had plunged his heart so deep within the dark, there was no way to bring him back.

The only thing they could do for him now was to set his heart free.

Simba was the first to attack Scar. Since this was his uncle, he wanted to finish him.

Sora and Hikari joined in as well.

Even though it pained them, they used their keyblades to attack the heartless king. It was the only way they could finish him off.

At one point, Scar managed to wrestle Sora to the ground and pinned him down.

Hikari gasped when she saw Scar lift his paw up to slash at Sora's throat.

"Sora!"

She quickly ran towards them and clamped her saw around Scars arm.

The lion roared as Hikari dug her teeth into his arm.

"You insolent brat!" Scar cried.

Hikari flinched as the darkness burned her.

Since she was a princess of heart, that meant pure darkness could injure her.

Scar managed to pry her off of him and threw her aside like a rag doll.

"Hikari!" Sora cried.

Hikari swayed slightly as she got up and glared at Scar.

Nobody threw her around like she was a piece of trash.

"That does it"

She summoned her keyblade and bit tightly into it.

She ran head on into Scar while he was distracted by fighting Sora and Simba.

"You'll never defeat the true king of the Pride Lands!" he cried.

Hikari jabbed her keyblade right into Scar's chest and sealed his heart.

When she yanked it out, she saw darkness ozzing out of him.

"Finish him, Simba!" Sora cried.

Simba let out a mighty roar as he slammed his paw into Scar's chest and crushed his heart.

The dark king staggered abit before falling over lifelessly.

It was finally over.

/

With Scar gone, Simba was able to finally gain the throne to Pride Rock.

Everyone watched as the new king proudly walked up to the peak of the kingdom and looked up at the heavens.

He knew his father was proud of him for overcoming his past after so long.

He let out a mighty roar that showed he had become king.

All of the lionesses roared alongside him to show their allegence to the rightful king.

As they roared, pain shot through Hikari's chest again.

She dug her claw into the ground when it started to grow worse.

"_Not again" _she thought.

"_Please make it stop"_

The clouds broke apart to reveal the sun for the first time in so many years.

The light bathed Hikari and surrounded her with its warmth.

As the light covered her, the pain in her chest died away.

She looked up in the sky in amazement as saw Mufasa's face up in the sky.

She gasped.

Rakiki came up to her and smiled.

"A father will always protect a child" he said.

"Even when the child is not his own"

Hikari smiled softly when she saw Mufasa grinning at her.

"Thank you" she said quietly.

She and Sora sealed the keyhole thanks to Mufasa.

"Hey, what's with the light show?" Timon asked.

"We have to say goodbye for a little while" Sora said.

"I'll go tell Simba" Pumbaa said.

"Aw, he's probably busy" Goofy said.

"Just tell him we'll be back soon"

"Oh, that's right-he's king now" Timon said.

"He's gonna be so busy he'll probably forget about his two best buddies"

Hikari smirked.

"Well, you always Hakuna Matata, right?" she asked.

"Guess so…" Pumbaa said.

"Whaddya mean 'guess so'?" Timon asked.

"What if he forgets to tell the carnivores who we are? One look at you, and you're a pig roast"

"That's MISTER pig roast" Donald corrected.

Pumbaa trembled.

"Same thing!" he cried.

"And I'm not sticking around to be anybody's pork dinner!"

He ran off in fear.

"Pumbaa!" Timon cried.

The group just chuckled as they watched the warthog run away from Pride Rock.

"You could never forget your true buddies" Sora said.

Hikari smiled and thought of Kairi.

Even though she was still back on the island, she could never forget about her best friend.

"_I know we'll see each other soon" _she thought.

/

Once everyone return to the Gummi Ship, the group returned back to their normal forms.

Their bodies ached in pain from moving around in ways that they normally didn't.

"My back!" Sora cried.

Hikari held her jaw from gripping her keyblade so hard.

Donald's arms hung limply at his side from flapping them so much.

Goofy's legs were cramped up from walking so slowly as a tortoise for so long.

Needless to say, it took them at least an hour before they could sit properly in their seats and head towards their next world.

/

**A/N: I hoped you all liked this chapter! **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	18. Atlantica: Under the sea

Chapter 18: Atlantica: Under The Sea

**A/N: We're back with another chapter! Now we get to play my favorite song from this world.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Hikari.**

**Enjoy!**

/

After everyone got accustomed to having their normal bodies back, they decided to head back to Atlantica to play that song.

They figured if they could endure being animals for a few hours, they could go through with this song.

"It's not like anything bad will come from this song" Sora said.

Oh, was he in for a big surprise.

/

Ariel agreed to sing the song that Sebastian created.

Since her friends gave her that statue, she thought it was only fair that she did what they asked.

She met with them in one of the floral areas that made up the kingdom's garden.

Sebastian smiled when he saw Ariel.

"Break a fin everyone!" he cried.

He went over to a set of clams and started beating on them like a set of drums.

When it came to Sora's part, he started to sing.

"_The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else's lake"_

"_You dream about going up there" _Sebastian sang.

"_But that is a big mistake._

_Just look at the world around you_

_Right here on the ocean floor._

_Such wonderful things around you_

_What more is you looking for?_

_Under the sea_

_Under the sea"_

"_Darling, it's better down where it's wetter" _Hikari sang.

"_Take it from me"_

"_Up on the shore they work all day" _Sebastian sang.

"_Out in the sun they slave away…_

_While we devoting full time to floating…_

_Under the sea"_

The band played their number while everyone danced to it.

"_Under the sea_

_Under the sea_

_Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here_

_Naturally"_

"_Even the sturgeon and the ray" _Sora sang.

"_They get the urge and start to play" _Hikari added.

"_We got the spirit, you got to hear it_

_Under the sea" _Sebastian sang.

He played the drums some more.

Sora and Hikari looked at Ariel hopefully to see if she would join in the singing.

Hikari tugged the mermaid from where she was sitting and started dancing with her.

"_Under the sea_

_Under the sea"_

Ariel finally gave in and started to sing.

"_When the sardine begin their beguine _

_It's music to me" _she sang.

"_What do they got? A lot of sand" _Sebastian sang.

"_We've got a hot crustacean band"_

"_Each little clam here, _

_Know how to jam here.." _ Ariel sang.

"_Under the sea"_

"_Each little slug here, _

_Caught in a rug here, _

_Under the sea" _Sora and Hikari sang.

"_Each little snail here, _

_Know how to wail here" _Sebastian sang.

"_That's why it's hotter" _Sora sang.

"_Under the water" _Hikari finished.

"_Ya, we in luck here_

_Down in the muck here_

_Under the sea!"_

Sebastian looked at Ariel.

"So, what do you think, Ariel?" he asked.

The mermaid looked at him sadly.

"Oh, I think it's a great song, Sebastian" she said.

"It's just…it's not what I want to sing"

Sebastian gasped when she started to swim away from him.

Ariel looked up at the sky hopefully.

"I wanna sing about…how our two worlds can live in harmony-land and sea together!"

Sebastian grabbed his face.

"Da sea king would make chowder outta me if you sang a song like dat!" he cried.

Ariel crossed her arms.

"If you won't listen, then I'm not going to sing at all" she said.

She swam off with her friends right on her tail.

Sebastian shook his head in despair.

"How do I get myself into dese situations?" he asked himself.

"Not only has dat girl fallen in love at da worst possible time, but wid a human!"

"Ariel's in love with a human?"

Sebastian gasped in horror when he realized King Triton was right behind him.

He shook, knowing that the king had heard every single word he had said.

"Oh, me and my big mouth" he muttered.

He slowly turned around to see the fuming king.

This was not going to be pretty.

/

Ariel decided to head up to the surface to see if her prince was around.

Ever since she rescued him, he would come by to the beach to see if he could find her.

Sora and the others popped their heads up to see what the commotion was all about.

Ariel smiled when she saw Prince Eric walking along the shore.

"Is that him?" Hikari asked.

"Uh-huh" Ariel nodded.

"Let's say something!" Donald suggested.

He went to swim over, but Ariel held him back.

"No, don't!" she pleaded.

"He's a human and I'm a mermaid. I…I don't know what he'd think"

Hikari looked at her sadly.

She knew that feeling of being different from the rest of the world.

She remembered that since her mother was a sorceress that meant she was an outcast to society.

Everyone feared her of her powers and stayed away from her. They thought she was a witch who would curse them as soon as they got close to her.

Only her father was brave enough to start a relationship with her.

She smiled softly as she realized she went through a similar situation with Riku.

Even though she didn't remember that she was a sorceress, she was still on outcast on the islands.

Only Riku was brave enough to be with her and end up falling for her.

"_Everyone is just an idiot" _he would say.

"_They're just jealous that they can't be as cute as you"_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she was Eric drop something from his pocket.

It appeared to be a pendant of some sort and washed up between a set of rocks that resided within the ocean.

The group went up to it for a closer look.

"What's that?" Ariel asked.

"It must be his" Hikari said.

Sora tried sticking his hand in to see if he could reach it.

"It's no use" he said.

Hikari tired using her keyblade to try and grab it, but it was barely within her reach.

"Rats!" she said.

A memory of her mother being in a similar situation came to her mind.

/

_Taiyouko shimmed up one of the trees that surrounded the castle._

"_Almost there" she said._

_She had a tiny baby bird tucked in her hand as she climbed up._

_She saw the poor thing fall out of its nest and was still too young to fly back up._

_If it was left on its own, it would have surely died._

_She smiled at the bird as it chirped at her._

"_Don't worry. You'll be back with your mother soon" she said._

_She struggled going up the branch._

_Wearing a dress wasn't a good idea for something like this, but she really didn't have time to complain._

_When she was high enough to rest the nest, she steadied herself on a small branch._

"_Better do this quick before it breaks" she said._

_She carefully placed the bird back in its nest._

"_There you go. Home sweet home"_

_The bird chirped happily to be back in its home._

_Taiyouko smiled._

_But when she heard a 'crack' that smiled vanished._

"_Uh oh"_

_The branch beneath her broke and sent her falling to the ground._

_She screamed as she fell to the ground._

_She expected to land on the hard ground, but she was surprised when she landed on something soft and warm._

_Looking up, she realized that she landed on a man._

_She gasped and quickly got off of him._

"_I'm so sorry!" she cried._

_The man just chuckled and got up._

"_It's alright" he said._

_He dusted his lab coat off before looking at her._

"_Are you alright miss?" he asked._

_Taiyouko blushed but nodded._

_No one really talked to her unless they needed her for something._

_That was fate of a sorceress._

"_Y-yeah" she stammered._

_She looked up at the nest where the bird was still chirping at its rescuer._

"_It looks like you save its life" the man said._

_Taiyouko smiled shyly while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear._

"_I-I just felt bad that it couldn't get back up to its home, so I just had to help" she said._

_The man smiled at her._

"_That's really kind of you" he said._

_Taiyouko just blushed some more._

_This was the first time anyone really talked to her besides the inhabitants of the castle._

_When she didn't say anything the man tilted his head._

"_Something wrong?" he asked._

_She quickly shook her head._

"_N-no" she said._

"_I-I just find it odd that you're talking to me"_

_The man raised an eyebrow._

"_Oh?" _

_Taiyouko shyly looked at him through her eyelashes._

"_Aren't you suppose to be afraid of me or something?" she asked._

_That would be anyone's normal reaction when it came to her._

_The man just looked at her with a confused expression._

"_Should I be?" he asked._

"_I've never seen you before, so I don't know why I should be scared"_

_Taiyouko looked surprised._

_That was the first time anyone said that to her._

_It really touched her._

_The man smiled and held out his hand._

"_What's your name?" he asked._

_Taiyouko smiled softly at him and placed her hand on top of his._

"_Taiyouko" she said._

_The man's grip sent sparks through her body._

"_Nice to meet you, Taiyouko" he said._

"_My name is-"_

/

"Hikari!"

Hikari was snapped from her thoughts when Sora called her.

"Huh?"

She turned to her friends.

"We have to go" Sora said.

"We need to find a spell that will help us get that necklace from between those rocks."

Hikari nodded slowly and saw back with him towards the gummi ship.

She knew that was one of her mother's memories she had witnessed.

It when she first meet her dad.

Even though she still couldn't see his face or hear his name, she knew it was him.

She sighed sadly.

Even after having half of her memories of her dad returned to him, she still could picture his face or remember his name.

"_Maybe I'll learn it while we travel some more" _she thought as they got back on the ship.

She placed a hand over her heart and looked at the stars.

"_I hope you're alright, mom" _she thought.

She knew her mother was strong, but even the strongest had their breaking points.

She wouldn't realize until much later that her mother was going through it right now on this journey.

/

**A/N: And the mystery of Hikari's father continues. Will she finally realize who he is, or will she be left in the dark as usual?**

**Hope you're looking forward to a certain red head and his leading lady because Axel and Tsukiko are back!**

**Please review and tell me what you think**

**Ja ne**


	19. Twilight Town

Chapter 19: Twilight Town

**A/N: We finally get to see our favorite nobody couple! What have Axel and Tsukiko been doing while our heroes have been saving the worlds? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's. **

**Enjoy!**

/

It was hard to tell when it was morning or night in the World That Never Was. The whole sky was always covered in darkness that it was hard to tell if this world even had a sky. The only offered light that this world had were from the florescent lights that the buildings provided.

It was those same exact lights that woke Tsukiko up from her sleep. She covered her eyes from the lights that came through her hotel window.

It had been a few weeks since she recalled her past and remembered she was a nobody. Weeks since Taiyouko let her leave with Axel so she wouldn't have to return to her former self. Weeks of knowing that Ankoku and Roxas were gone.

Thinking about the two young nobodies brought tears to her eyes.

She felt so helpless for not being able to stop them from going back to their former selves. Even though she knew it was the only way they would be safe from the Organization, she still wished they were still here. They had sewn their way into her artificial heart and wouldn't leave, despite being gone.

A tear slid down her face and she gripped her necklace.

Why did she have to have a heart? Nobodies weren't suppose to experience feelings and yet, here she was felling remorse and sorrow.

She was probably the only nobody out there who had a heart and didn't have to return to her former self.

She was alone in the world.

She felt someone wrap their arm around her waist as they slept.

Looking to her right, she saw Axel was sound asleep as he held her close to him. Ever since Taiyouko let them go, he had kept her by his side at all times.

Since he failed at his mission to destroy Roxas and Ankoku, he was deemed a traitor to the Organization. He really didn't care. Tsukiko knew that he never planned to destroy his only friends in the Organization. They were the source to his sanity. But with them gone, she was all he had left in this world.

Tsukiko smiled contently as she watched her boyfriend sleep.

Even though they were on the run and hiding from the Organization, they still had each other.

She snuggled closer to his warm body and kissed him on the lips.

"Roxas and Ankoku may be gone" she whispered.

"But at least I have you"

She went back to sleep before they had to get up to head to a different location.

/

Later that day, Pluto was seen walking down one of the lonely, empty streets of The World that Never Was.

How the dog managed to get here way beyond anyone.

The poor thing seemed to be terrified of his surroundings since he kept looking behind him as he walked.

As he walked past an alley, he did a double take and saw two figures walking through it.

Axel and Tsukiko were refreshed from their stay at the world's only hotel and were quickly trying to head to their next world.

While Tsukiko tried to keep her memories of Roxas and Ankoku buried away, they simply resurfaced again.

No matter what she did, she simply couldn't forget about them.

Axel noticed the sad look on her face and stopped walking.

He brushed the bangs out of her face and looked into her purple eyes.

"You miss them, don't you?" he asked.

He had been the same as well.

He just couldn't accept that his only friends in the Organization were gone.

They had chosen to return to their former selves than be with their closest friends.

That was selfish and cruel of them.

Didn't they realize how much it affected them?

Couldn't they see the torn up expression on Tsukiko's face?

The female nobody just sighed and hung her head.

There was no point in hiding anything from her boyfriend.

"How can I not?" she asked.

"I've became so attached to them and to have them suddenly disappear is heartbreaking"

She placed a hand where her 'heart' was.

"I hate having a heart and having to feel these emotions" she choked.

"Why can't a be like a normal nobody and be spared this pain?"

She silently cried and held her face in her hands.

Axel sighed weakly and held his girlfriend close to him.

Whenever he saw her cry, he always felt this tugging in the place where his heart should be.

He didn't want to tell her how much he envied the fact that she had a heart and could feel emotions.

Even though he chose to become a nobody, he wished that he could take it back.

He ground his teeth in frustration as he thought of Roxas and Ankoku.

How he wished they were here right now so he could chew them out.

How dare they make his girlfriend cry?

They should have consider themselves lucky that they were able to go back to their former selves.

If they saw the state that Tsukiko was in, it would break their hearts.

As he thought of that, he suddenly came up with an idea.

Since they were able to go back to their former selves, then that meant Sora and Hikari were up.

And since they had hearts, they were vulnerable of having them taken away from them.

And if that were to happen…

An evil grin spread across his face as he came to that conclusion.

"_Their nobodies would come back"_ he thought.

The wheels in his head were starting to spin.

If he could just extract Sora and Hikari's hearts, then he would be able to see his friends again.

He knew how they fought thanks to Castle Oblivion, so he would know whatever tricks they pulled out their sleeves.

"_And thanks to Namine, they won't remember me. So it looks like I've got the winning hand in this one"_

He rubbed Tsukiko's head as she continued to cry.

"You want to see them that badly?" he asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"More than anything" she said.

"I just want my friends back"

Axel smirked.

"Well, I think I know how to get them" he said.

Tsukiko stopped crying and suddenly looked at her boyfriend.

"You do?" she asked.

The red head nodded.

"Yep. I know just how to get them" he said.

He opened a portal behind him.

"Why don't you head to Twilight Town while I got get some bait?" he asked.

"That way, when Roxas and Ankoku return, you'll be the first person to see them"

Tsukiko couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Axel was going to get them back?

But how was that even possible? They already returned to Sora and Hikari, how was Axel going to pull this off?

The red head just chuckled when he saw her confused look.

"Don't worry. Leave all of this to me" he said.

He gently pushed her through the portal.

"Just lay low until I come get you. You don't know where the Organization will pop up"

Tsukiko nodded and closed the portal behind her.

Axel smirked darkly and opened up a portal in front of him.

"Now to go get the bait" he said to himself.

He walked through it and headed to the one world that would have what he was looking for.

Pluto, who had been watching what was happening, went to run after Axel.

He may have been a dog, but even he knew that Axel was up to no good.

When the portal closed before him, he hung his head sadly.

Now how was he going to get him.

The sound of someone whistling to him made his ears stick up.

Looking behind him, he saw another portal opened up before him.

Pluto grinned, knowing who it was that opened it for him.

The dog ran through it and hoped that he made it in time to his destination.

/

On the peaceful beaches of Destiny Island, Kairi stood near the shore and looked at the small island she used to play on as a kid.

After finally remembering Sora and Hikari, she recalled the promise they made before their world was returned.

"_We'll come back to you. We promise!"_

It had been over a year since they said that, and they still didn't return.

She knew they were off searching for Riku, but she didn't think it would take that long to find him.

She couldn't help but feel helpless as she stood there.

She knew she promised that she would wait for their return, but lately, it just felt like it wasn't enough.

"Maybe…waiting isn't good enough" she said to herself.

"My thoughts exactly!"

Kairi jumped when she heard someone speak.

She knew she was alone on the beach, so where could it come from?

"If you have a dream, don't wait. Act. One of life's little rules"

Axel appeared from the portal he came from and smirked at her.

"Got it memorized?"

Kairi looked at him wearily and took a step back.

People coming from portals clearly weren't good news.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Axel" the red head replied.

He secretly smirked as he looked at his bait.

The only way he would get Roxas and Ankoku back would be if Sora and Hikari's hearts reacted strongly to the people that they cared about.

Since Kairi was Sora's special someone, he just knew he would get Roxas in no time.

He would have gotten Riku or Taiyouko for Hikari, but he had no idea where those two were.

Plus, since they allowed Tsukiko to live, he wouldn't use them out of gratitude.

"_This girl is Hikari's best friend, so she'll do" _he thought.

He decided to put on the good guy act to lure Kairi to him.

"I happen to be an acquaintance to Sora and Hikari" he said.

He smirked when he saw Kairi's eyes go wide.

He held out his hand to her.

"Why don't we go see them?" he asked.

Kairi was lost in thought as she thought on Axel's offer.

So she could see Sora and Hikari?

She had been worried sick about them and she was finally getting the chance to actually see them.

Now she wouldn't feel so helpless so more.

She was pulled out of her little world when she heard a dog barking.

Pluto came rushing to her and stood protectively in front of her.

The dog growled when a group of nobodies surrounded them.

Kairi realized they were coming from Axel and scolded herself.

She was just about to follow this creep to see her friends?

How desperate did she become?

"_But I want to see them so badly" _she thought.

The sound of someone whistling made her turn around to see a portal standing in front of her.

Pluto barked happily at Kairi and nudged her towards the portal.

Kairi watched Pluto go through it happily.

Axel snarled behind her back.

He knew who it was that was interfering and he was starting to think about using more than Kairi as just bait.

When he saw her taking a step towards the portal, he tried to stop her.

He was not going to lose the opportunity to get his friends back. He promised Tsukiko.

"We've got something in common, Kairi" he said.

"You and I both miss the ones we care about. Hey…I feel like we're friends already"

That did it for Kairi.

She knew right then and there that Axel was putting on a show and meant to cause harm to her.

She glared at him and ran towards the portal.

"You're not acting very friendly!" she called out.

Axel made a fist when he saw the portal close.

His mind went on two certain individuals who were responsible for this.

"You've just crossed the line with this, my friends" he said.

/

Kairi stood close to Pluto as she got out of the portal.

She was standing in an area that seemed to be between worlds. It was like a world, but then again, it wasn't.

Even though she was away from Axel, she wasn't out of the woods yet.

She gripped the hem of her pink dress in a nervous manner.

"Hey, what is this place?" she asked herself.

She heard the whistle again and turned to her left to see a portal of light.

Pluto barked happily as he ran through it.

Kairi followed the dog. She didn't want to be left alone in this place.

As she stood near the entrance of the portal, she sensed someone behind her and turned around.

She gasped when she saw a hooded man standing next to a woman in white.

She was about to say something, but the woman shushed her by placed a finger to her lips.

She saw her mouthing 'everything will be alright' before closing the portal on her.

/

"You okay?"

Kairi stirred when she heard someone talking to her.

She slowly opened her eyes and sat up to see three kids her age looking at her.

Hayner, Pence and Olette were at a loss for words when they saw their guests suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"You and that dog came flying out of a hole in the wall" Pence said.

"You nearly gave us a heart attack!"

Kairi smiled softly as she looked at their friendly faces.

She had a feeling she would be safe with them.

/

Back with our heroes, Donald picked something up on the Gummi Ship's monitor.

He was surprised to see Twilight Town was back on the radar.

"Hey, Twilight Town in back" he said.

The rest of them smiled at that.

"Let's go see how Hayner and the others are doing" Sora said.

Donald steered the ship towards Twilight Town, where they were in for a big surprise.

/

Tsukiko sighed sadly as she walked through the market place.

Coming to this place brought up a lot of memories.

She remembered this was the world she came to when Hollow Bastion was destroyed. She couldn't recall her past life, but she was able to make by with that.

This was also where she met Axel, Roxas and Ankoku.

She smiled softly as she thought of her most precious friends.

"I must enjoy tormenting myself by coming here" she said.

"I used to enjoy being here, but now I just want to get away from it. All the memories I've made here are just crushing me"

She gripped her necklace tightly as she walked.

"Why did they have to go?" she asked herself.

"I wish I could see them again"

She was so caught up in her own little world that she didn't realize she bumped into someone until she did.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" a girl said.

Tsukiko smiled gently as she brushed herself off.

"It's ok" she said.

"It was just an a-"

She gasped when she saw who she bumped into.

There ,right in front of her were Sora and Hikari.

She paled drastically as she looked at the former selves of her closest friends.

Sora tilted his head when he saw Tsukiko looked dazed.

"You alright miss?" he asked.

Tsukiko quickly snapped out of it and gave them a weak smile.

"Y-yeah" she said.

"I'm sorry. It's just that you both look like…friends that I know"

Hikari smiled softly.

"Really?" she asked.

"I guess we just have those kind of faces"

Tsukiko laughed awkwardly.

"_You have no idea" _she thought.

As she looked at them more closely, she couldn't help but notice how similar they looked to their nobodies.

While they had different hairstyles, they still had the same eyes.

Jade green and sky blue.

Hikari seemed to study her.

"Now that you mention it, you look a lot like someone that I know too" she said.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah. I feel like we've met before" he added.

Tsukiko bit her lip.

It seemed that even though Roxas and Ankoku were gone, some of their memories became theirs.

Hikari laughed slightly.

"I'm sorry. But you just look like someone who is very dear to me"

The keyblade mistress couldn't help but think of her mother.

This stranger had the same face and skin tone as Taiyouko did.

While they didn't have the same hair and eye color, they held a similar aura.

Sora blushed slightly.

"Oh, geez. We didn't introduce ourselves" he said.

"I'm Sora"

Hikari held out her hand.

"I'm Hikari"

"And our two friends here are Donald and Goofy"

Tsukiko smiled at the irony at Hikari's name.

While hers meant light, Ankoku's meant darkness.

"_What are the odds of that?" _she thought.

She gripped Hikari's hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you" she said.

"I'm Tsukiko"

Sora chuckled at that.

"Hey, her name sounds a lot like your mom's" he said.

"Taiyouko and Tsukiko. They're only off by a few letters"

Hikari giggled at that.

"Oh yeah" she said.

"What are the odd?"

Tsukiko couldn't help but smile.

It was no accident that their names sounded similar. She was Taiyouko's nobody after all.

As she looked at them, she felt her heart grow warm.

She tried to hate them for taking Roxas and Ankoku back, but when she saw the innocent looks on their faces, she knew they had no idea about it.

They were just as innocent as her friends were in this tragic mess.

"Are you from around here, Tsukiko?" Goofy asked.

The nobody nodded.

"Yeah. I was gone for a little while, but I just returned" she said.

"I guess that's why we never saw you when we were last here" Donald said.

They all chatted a bit and got to know each other better.

They were all laughing at something Goofy said before they were interrupted by Vivi.

The poor boy looked like he saw a ghost as he was running.

"H-help! The sandlot! It's Seifer!" he cried.

"Somebody please help us!"

Sora and Hikari looked at each other.

There had to be one explanation for this.

"Let's go!" Sora said.

Hikari nodded and looked at Tsukiko.

"Sorry, but we have some things to take care of" she said.

"It was nice meeting you"

Tsukiko frowned when she saw they were about to leave.

She didn't want them to leave yet.

All she could see was Roxas and Ankoku leaving as they were about to head to the mansion.

"Wait!" she cried.

They looked at her confused.

"What is it?" Sora asked.

Tsukiko bit her lip nervously.

"Um, do you even know where the sandlot is?"

When she saw the puzzled looks on their faces, she sighed.

"Follow me" she said.

If this would allow her to spend more time with them, she was willing to take it.

The group followed her as she headed towards the Sandlot, where Seifer needed help.

/

Seifer and his gang were out cold on the ground.

They had been attacked by nobodies and were over powered by them.

It seemed that not even the town's disciplinary committee could handle the dangers that lay beyond their world.

Seifer groaned as he tried to get up. He didn't want to look weak in front of these monsters.

As he was getting up, Sora and Hikari stood in front of them with their weapons drawn.

"We'll take it from here!" Sora said.

Hikari looked at Tsukiko.

"Take them somewhere safe and hide" she said.

Tsukiko nodded and pulled them off to the side before looking at them.

She grew worried when she saw so many nobodies surround them.

There could only be one reason behind it: The Organization was here.

She hide behind the Struggle scoreboard and summoned up her scythe in case things got too bad for them.

Sora looked at Hikari and smirked.

"Want to see who get rid of the most nobodies?" he asked.

Hikari just chuckled and shook her head.

"Nah. You'll just lose anyway" she said.

Sora just snorted and looked at their enemies.

"Then let's finish this before anymore show up"

They dove into the fray and sliced at any nobody that came in their way.

The Dusks proved to be easy and were finished with one hit.

The Berserkers, however, proved to be more of a challenge and needed to be attacked carefully.

Their bodies were more resistant to hits and they tended to swing their claymores around like a baseball bat.

The group got hit by them on more than one occasion and gained a few bruises.

When they finally got rid of the nobodies, they heard someone clapping.

They turned around to see an Organization member applauding them.

Tsukiko gasped and hid further behind the scoreboard.

The group gripped their weapons as they faced the Organization member.

If one of them was here, then that meant bad news.

The Organization member stooped clapping.

"Impressive" he said.

"By the way, have you seen a man named Axel? I expect he's here somewhere"

He looked over at the scoreboard where Tsukiko was hiding.

Sora scoffed.

"Like we care" he said.

The Organization member looked back at them.

"You see, Axel's no longer acting in our best interest" he explained.

"Is he with the Organization, too?" Goofy asked.

"Yes"

"You havin' a fight?" Donald asked.

"Not a very organized Organization" Hikari commented.

The Organization member pointed a finger at them.

"Don't let your guard down" he warned.

"Axel will stop at nothing to turn you both into heartless"

"Gee, thanks for looking out for us, mister" Sora said sarcastically.

"But I'm sure we can take care of ourselves just fine"

"Glad to hear it" The Organization member said.

"Axel aside, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to you"

Hikari scoffed.

"Hearts?" she asked.

"You don't have any hearts"

The Organization pulled his hood back to reveal himself as Saix.

"True, we don't have hearts" he said.

"But we remember what it was like. That's what makes us special"

"Whaddya mean?" Goofy asked.

Saix didn't say anything and simply opened up a portal.

"We know very well how to injure a heart" he said.

"Sora, Hikari. You just keep on fighting those heartless"

Sora looked at his friends out of the corner of his eyes.

"Let's jump in after him" he whispered.

"How come?" Donald asked.

"I'm not sure, but maybe he'll lead us to the Organization's world" Sora said.

Hikari smiled at the idea.

"Sounds good" she said.

"Kill two birds with one stone"

Saix smirked darkly at them when he heard their idea.

"Don't be reckless" he said.

"Do you want to end up like Riku?"

At the mention of Riku's name, Hikari gasped.

"What?"

Saix just bowed to them and walked through the portal.

Hikari grew frantic and ran after him.

"Wait!"

The portal closed on her before she could chase after him.

Hikari fell to her knees in shock.

She looked at the ground.

Sora and the others slowly approached her.

"Hikari?" Sora asked.

Hikari looked up where Saix once stood.

"What did he mean, end up like Riku?" she asked.

Her friends just shrugged, totally lost like her.

Hikari closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip.

She didn't want to think what Saix meant to that.

Did he know something about Riku's whereabouts?

Did something happen to him?

A tear slid down her face when she thought of something.

"_Please don't tell me he fell to the darkness again" _

It broke her heart when Riku sided with Maleficent last time, but if he was siding with the Organization, she didn't know what she would do. Her heart couldn't take stand another betrayal like that.

Tsukiko knelt in front of her and wiped the tear from her face.

"Don't listen to him" she said.

"He probably said that to throw you off. Never trust someone that has a cold look on their face"

Goofy nodded.

"Yeah. We all know Riku wouldn't do something bad" he said.

"He helped us seal Kingdom Hearts last time. I'm sure he's ok"

Hikari smiled softly at her friends.

"You're right" she said.

"Thanks"

Sora helped her up to her feet.

"Let's get going" he said.

They were just about to leave, when Seifer and his gang stopped them.

"Hey, how 'bout you get out of my town?" he asked.

"You've caused enough trouble"

Tsukiko rolled her eyes at him.

"Give it a rest Seifer" she said.

"At least they took care of the mess while you did nothing. Disciplinary team my ass"

Donald stomped his foot.

"Have it your way" he said.

"C'mon guys"

They started walking when Seifer stopped them again.

"Hold it!"

Tsukiko sighed in annoyance.

"Make up your damn mind!" she said.

Seifer held up his Struggle Trophy.

"This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town" he said.

Sora looked surprised for a second before smiling.

"Thanks, but…we don't really need it" he said.

"Yeah. A trophy doesn't show how strong you really are" Hikari pointed out.

Seifer wouldn't have any of it and just shoved the trophy in Goofy's hands.

He looked at them before walking off with his gang.

"Oh! Sora! Hikari!"

They turned around to see Pence run up to them.

"Hey, Pence" Tsukiko said.

Pence smiled at her before looking at the keyblade masters.

"Do you know a girl named Kairi?" he asked.

Sora's eyes went huge.

"K-Kairi? We sure do!" he said.

Hikari's hand flew up to her mouth.

Kairi was here? She was suppose to be on the islands waiting for them.

"Then you better come to the station" Pence said.

Sora was smiling brightly at the thought of seeing the girl he loved most.

He grabbed Hikari and Tsukiko's hand in his eagerness.

"Come on!"

He practically dragged them towards the station while the other tried to catch up.

/

"Sora! Slow down!" Hikari cried.

"Yeah, you're about to rip my arm off" Tsukiko added.

When they made it to the station, Hayner and Olette ran up to them.

"Hey!" Hayner cried.

They all gathered near the entrance and said hi.

"So how do you guys know Kairi?" Hikari asked.

They told their story of how Kairi suddenly appeared in their hide out.

"Kairi was really here?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. And…she said she was looking for you and Hikari" Hayner said.

Sora smiled brightly.

"Tell me where she is!"

Hayner rubbed his neck.

"Well…"

/

_Kairi chatted with Hayner and his gang about her friends._

_She told them the story of how Sora and Kairi traveled to different worlds to rescue her before returning her to the islands._

"_What a wonderful story" Olette said._

"_If you stick around, they're bound to show up" Pence added._

"_Yeah, they said they were coming back" Hayner said._

_Kairi smiled at the thought of seeing her friends._

"_Okay!" she said._

_Everything was well until they heard a familiar voice._

"_What took you so long, Kairi?"_

_A portal opened up for Axel to walk through._

_He looked tired as if he had been searching for her._

"_Somehow I just knew you'd be here" he said._

"_I tell ya, Kairi, you've got a lot of guts, jumping right into the darkness like that"_

_He walked over to her while dodging Hayner and Pence._

_Kairi glared at the red head when he gripped her arm and pulled her up._

_She struggled as he pulled her towards the portal._

"_Let go of me!" she cried._

"_Let go!"_

_Pluto ran after them before the portal close completely._

_Hayner and the others looked horrified when they saw their friend being taken away._

/

Sora and Hikari were horrified by the news.

Sora sadly looked at Kairi's keychain.

"Kairi…" he said.

Hikari looked at the ground sadly.

"This is just like our last journey" she said.

It seemed like not only did they have to find Riku and Taiyouko, but now they had to find Kairi as well.

Tsukiko was as white as a ghost as she heard this.

She couldn't believe her boyfriend would go so low as to kidnap someone to get what he wanted.

She didn't understood what he meant by bait, but know she knew.

He was trying to lure Sora and Hikari towards him just he could turn them into heartless and bring Roxas and Ankoku back.

She looked at their sad faces and frowned.

Even though she wanted to see them so badly, she didn't want to see Sora and Hikari vanish.

They proved to be really good friends that just wanted to be reunited with their loved ones.

Plus, since Hikari was Taiyouko's daughter, that meant she was her mother figure as well. She couldn't let anything happen to her.

Her hand turned into a fist as her thoughts went back to Axel.

He was in for a serious beating.

She quickly gave Sora and Hikari a quick smile.

"I'm sorry to leave at such a sad moment, but I need to check in on something" she said.

The keyblade master's gave her a weak smile.

"It's ok, we understand" Sora said.

"Bye, Tsukiko" Hikari said.

"Don't be a stranger"

Tsukiko nodded and ran from the station.

She had a boyfriend to track down and a girl to rescue.

Hayner looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Sorry" he said.

Sora gave him a weak grin.

"Hey, it's not your fault" he said.

"C'mon, cheer up!"

"Yeah. We're grateful that you tried to protect Kairi" Hikari said.

"You shouldn't be frowning"

Her grin faded.

"Like we can eve say that…" she said quietly.

Sora suddenly grew determined.

"I gotta help, Kairi!"

His sudden outburst caused Goofy to drop Seifer's trophy and have the crystals fall off.

Everyone grabbed one as they rolled away.

"That was close" Pence said.

Sora and Hikari picked up a blue and white crystal when they rolled towards them.

They both held it up to the setting sun and watched at the light filtered through them.

Everyone did the same with their crystal while Goofy and Donald pulled out the crystals that were in the wallet the King gave them.

Everyone looked at their crystals and admired their beauty.

While Sora and Hikari were looking at theirs, they suddenly turned into Roxas and Ankoku for a moment.

"Sora? Hikari?" Donald asked.

The keyblade masters were pulled out of their worlds and looked at their friends.

The crystals glowed in their hands before floating up.

Sora and Hikari quickly pulled out their keyblades and sealed Twilight Town's keyhole before anymore heartless and nobodies could enter it.

"W-what just happened?" Pence asked.

"A new road is opened" Hikari said.

"And Kairi and Riku are waiting somewhere along it" Sora added.

"You'd better hurry then" Olette said.

"You coming back?" Hayne asked.

Hikari nodded.

"We promise" she said.

They quickly headed back for their Gummi ship so they could continue on with their journey.

/

Sora sighed when they got in their seats.

"The King, Riku- and now I've lost Kairi again too" he said.

"Don't be sad!" Donald said.

Goofy nodded.

"Donald's right, you know" he said.

"Why, you and Hikari are the keys that connect everything !"

"So this is our faults?" Sora asked.

"Gee, I didn't mean it like that" Goofy said.

Hikari placed her hand over his.

"Don't worry, Sora. We'll find her" she said.

"We did it once before, I'm sure we can do it again"

Sora looked at her sadly.

"You really think so?"

Hikari smiled.

"Of course I do" she said.

"I help as much as I can. You're helping me find Riku and my mom, the least I can do is help you find Kairi"

Sora smiled softly.

"Thanks" he said.

They heard a siren on the monitor and looked to see what was the problem.

"Oh no! Hollow Bastion is covered in darkness!" Chip said through the intercom.

Hikari gasped in horror.

"Ni-san!" she cried.

Donald quickly steered their ship towards Hollow Bastion to see what problem their friends were facing.

/

Tsukiko finally caught up with Axel after she left Hikari and her friends.

Her was beyond furious with her boyfriend right now.

How could he drag an innocent girl into all of this?

This was wrong and he knew it.

She stormed up to him in anger.

Axel turned around when he heard her and smiled.

"Hey, Tsukiko. I was just about to get you" he said.

"I hope you're ready for your su-"

He was cut off when Tsukiko summoned her scythe and held the blade up to his throat.

The female nobody looked at her boyfriend in anger.

"Where is she?"

/

**A/N: Looks like Kairi needs to be rescued again. Axel has a lot of nerve to do that. Sure, he's doing it for Tsukiko, but would never have wanted this if it meant dragging an innocent person into it.**

**Now we get to my favorite part of the game. Hollow Bastion is in for a rude awakening, and only Sora and Hikari can fix it.**

**Plus, we get to see a certain spiky blond headed person!**

**Please review and tell me what you think! **

**Ja ne**


	20. Dirge of Fenrir

Chapter 20: Dirge of Fenrir

**A/N: Now we get to see our favorite Final Fantasy character. As you can tell, we'll be learning more about Cloud's history and his connection with Mikomi. If you like the flash back scenes, you'll be seeing a lot of them in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari frantically looked around the market area when they landed in Hollow Bastion.

She was really worried that something happened to her world since she could sense darkness covering it.

She didn't know if her brother was alright, or if her friends were in danger. All she knew was that she needed to be here and set things straight.

Sora, Donald and Goofy ran up to her and looked around as well.

Everything seemed normal until they saw a huge group of heartless run by.

"Looks like there's more heartless now" Goofy said.

Just as he said that, a group of nobodies slithered past them.

Sora looked at Hikari's nervous reaction.

"Let's go check in with everyone" he said.

Hikari was already running down the steps and heading towards Merlin's.

"_Ni-san, please be ok" _she thought.

When she past the giant ice box near the Moogle market, she skidded to a stop and gasped at the person who was leaning on it.

There, standing before her was none other than Cloud.

He changed greatly since she last saw him and wore a similar black outfit that Mikomi wore, only not as skimpy.

He had his arms crossed while his head was bowed in thought.

Hikari smiled when she saw the blond.

If he was here, then he must have been reunited with Mikomi.

Sora and the others were surprised to see him as well.

"Cloud!" Sora cried.

The blond lifted his head to look at them before bowing it again.

Hikari smiled as she looked at her brother's friend.

"Hey, Cloud" she said.

"I take that since you're here, that you finally found Mikomi?"

Cloud didn't seem to be paying attention to her since he didn't respond.

Donald tilted his head when he saw the blond deep in thought.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

Cloud just sighed.

"I'll get him" he said lowly.

"This time we settle it. Me, and the one who embodies all the darkness in me"

Now that he mentioned it, Hikari could sense that his aura was a little off.

When she last saw him, it was a lot lighter, but now it was more darker.

"You do look different" she admitted.

"If I do, it's his fault" Cloud said.

"Whose?" Sora asked.

Cloud gripped his arms hard.

"Sephiroth" he said.

Hikari looked puzzled for a moment.

That name sounded familiar, but she didn't know why.

"Tell me if you see him" Cloud said.

Hikari nodded.

"Okay. What does he look like?" she said.

"Silver hair. Carries a long sword" the blond described.

The group nodded.

"Sure" Sora said.

"Well, be seeing you, Cloud"

The group started to walk away when Cloud looked at them.

"Be careful" he warned.

He pushed off from leaning on the wall and faced them.

"He messes with your head. Makes you think darkness is the only"

Hikari snorted.

There was no way she would give in to the darkness. She had firsthand experience of what it could do to someone.

"Is something wrong?"

The group turned to see Aerith and Mikomi standing in front of him.

"Um" Sora said.

Cloud looked at his sister for a moment and started to walk off.

He stopped by the steps when he saw the Mikomi followed him and hand her hands on her hips.

"It's nothing" he said.

Mikomi just gave him a stern look.

"Ni-san, you're up to something" she said.

Cloud sighed and looked to the side.

"I don't want you involved" he told her.

Mikomi glared at him.

"What do you mean you don't want me involved?" she asked.

"Are you just planning on fighting Sephiroth on your own? I told you that I would help. I can fight"

Cloud gave her a stern glare.

"I've told you before to stay out of it" he said.

"This is a fight that I have to endure alone. You'll only get hurt again like last time"

Mikomi gripped her arm that was covered by her long black sleeve.

"I was just careless back then. I'm a lot stronger than last time. Please, just let me help"

Cloud just kept giving her the stern look.

"No" he said.

He went to walk away, but he was stopped when Mikomi gripped his sleeve.

He looked over his shoulder to see his sister's head bowed.

The young ninja gripped onto her brother desperately.

"Please don't do this on your own, Ni-san" she said quietly.

"We're a family. We're suppose to help each other out"

She looked at him with a tear running down her face.

"We've just been reunited after being separated for so long. I don't want you to go away again and leave me behind"

She wiped the tear from her eye and looked away.

Cloud sighed and gripped her shoulder.

"Listen" he said.

"Even if I go far away, I'll come back"

He held up his black winged necklace that was dangling from his sister's neck.

"So long as you wear this, I'll never be far away"

Mikomi looked up at him sadly.

"Do you mean it?" she asked.

Cloud nodded.

"Yeah"

Mikomi sighed before nodding slowly.

"Ok" she said.

"Then go get things settled"

She smiled softly.

"I'm sure no matter what happens, you'll come back. One you find your light, we'll be a normal family again"

She chuckled slightly.

"And who knows? Maybe I'll finally get a boyfriend while you're away"

Cloud's face looked stern, but a very small smirk appeared on his lips.

"Don't push it" he said.

"I don't want to kill more than one person"

Mikomi giggled.

"Fine" she said.

She looked at him hopefully.

"But, can we hang out for a bit before you leave?" she asked.

"I know you want to settle the score, but I want to spend some time with my big brother before he leaves"

Cloud looked off to the side for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Ok"

Mikomi smiled brightly and hugged her brother tightly.

"Ni-san!"

Cloud staggered a bit and just patted her head to tell her to let go.

The young ninja obliged and walked along side her brother while he wrapped a protective arm across her shoulders.

The group watched as they walked down the steps and headed towards Merlin's house.

Hikari smiled softly at the scene.

"He acts like Ni-san" she said.

"Only, a bit more serious" Sora pointed out.

Aerith smiled softly.

"Cloud's always been like that" she said.

"Even before he found Mikomi"

The group looked at the young woman in confusion.

"Found?" Hikari asked.

Aerith shook her head in a scolding manner.

"I forgot, you didn't know" she said.

"Cloud and Mikomi aren't biological siblings. Mikomi is Cloud's adoptive sister"

Hikari looked surprised.

She figured Cloud and Mikomi were real siblings from the way they acted around each other. She always thought they were related from what she could remember of them.

"No wonder why they seem so different" Sora said.

"Mikomi is always cheerful while Cloud's serious"

Aerith giggled.

"Yeah, but they complete each other" she said.

"They've been together since that accident"

"Accident?" Hikari asked.

Aerith nodded.

"A long time ago, there was an accident in town. A sorceress suddenly appeared here and attacked everyone. Mikomi lost her parents and almost got killed when Cloud saved her"

/

_Flashback_

_People screamed as they ran in panic._

_The buildings around them exploded as they were zapped by magic._

_A 6 year old Mikomi tried to run away but kept tripping as people shoved her._

_Her mother held her hand tightly as they ran._

_She had blood splattered on her dress from all the bodies that were scattered on the ground._

_Among them were her parents._

_Tears fell down her face as she looked back at the place where her parents were. They pushed her out of the way before they were struck by lightning._

_She fell face first into the ground when someone shoved past her._

_Above her head, a wall exploded from being struck by magic and tumbled down towards her._

_Mikomi screamed and curled herself into a ball as she awaited to be smashed to death._

_She felt her body suddenly being lifted off the ground and taken away from the crumpled wall._

_She opened her eyes to see that she was being carried by a teenage boy with blond hair and blue eyes._

_His face looked serious, but his eyes showed that he was glad that she was ok._

_He gently placed her down and ushered her towards an opened between two houses._

"_Stay here" he told her._

_She nodded and watched as the boy pulled out a large sword looked around the area for something._

_He gripped his sword tightly when a huge, dog like monster came towards them. _

_The monster roared and ran towards the boy standing protectively in front of Mikomi._

_The blond just sneered and rammed his sword into the beast._

_The monster howled before falling over lifelessly._

_The boy put his sword away and looked at where Mikomi was hiding._

"_You can come out now" he said._

_She slowly did and walked over to him._

_He knelt down so he could be eye level with her._

"_Are you ok?" he asked._

_She nodded slowly._

_The boy nodded before standing up._

"_You better go back to your parents. It's dangerous here"_

_He went to walk away but stopped when Mikomi gripped his pants._

_He looked at her to see her head bowed._

"_What's wrong?" he asked._

"_I'm sure your parents are worried about you"_

_When he saw tears running down her face, it dawned on him what was happening._

"_You just lost your parents" he muttered._

_Mikomi sniffled and wiped her eyes._

_The boy knelt in front of her again and place his hand on her head._

"_Hey, it'll be ok" he said._

_Mikomi just looked at him as the tears continued to run down her face._

_She didn't know what to do._

_She didn't have her parents anymore and she was scared out of her mind. She was alone._

_The boy sighed when he saw the broken expression on her face and ran a hand through his spiky hair. _

_He muttered something under his breath before looking at her._

"_Do you have anyone you can go to?" he asked._

_Mikomi shook her head._

_The boy nodded in understanding and stood up._

_He held out his hand to her._

"_Come on, then" he said._

"_I guess I can look after you until we can find you some help"_

_Mikomi smiled brightly and placed her small hand within his big one. She was so glad that she wasn't alone anymore._

_The boy smiled softly when he saw her smile._

"_What's your name?" he asked._

"_I'm Cloud"_

_Mikomi smiled at him._

"_I'm Mikomi"_

/

"He was originally going to look after her until an orphanage was built" Aerith explained.

"But he grew so attached to her that by the time an orphanage was created, he just couldn't let her go and decided to adopt her"

Sora and the others smiled at that.

Who would have thought that Cloud had a soft heart like that?

Hikari frowned when she remembered something.

"You said a sorceress suddenly attack here" she said.

"Was it Maleficent?"

Aerith shook her head.

"No. Someone more dangerous" she said.

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

A sorceress that was more dangerous than Maleficent?

Yeah right, like that was even possible.

Sora nudged Hikari and pointed towards Merlin's place.

"Let's go see how everyone else is doing" he said.

Hikari nodded and waved goodbye to Aerith.

Thinking about Cloud and Mikomi's relationship made her want to see Leon even more.

"_When I see Ni-san, I'm going to give him a big hug" _

/

**A/N: I hoped you guys liked seeing Cloud. He may show it, but he really cares for his sister, even is she's not related to him.**

**As for the sorceress that was mentioned before, do you know who it is? I'm pretty much foreshadowing one of the next installments to the series.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	21. Ansem's Study

Chapter 21: Ansem's Study

**A/N: Hey everyone! We finally get to see Leon again, so I hope you enjoy the brother- sister moment he has with Hikari.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

that was placed in the wizard's home.

Cid cursed when he typed the wrong password into the computer and has to retype the system again.

"Hey, Cid" Sora said.

The pilot looked from his study and grinned when he saw a group of familiar faces.

"Hey, fellas- you're just in time" he said.

"Got some good news for ya, so get yerselves over to Leon's"

"What kind of news?" Hikari asked.

Yuffie jumped up and down.

"We found the computer Ansem was using!" she cried.

That was exciting news. If they found his computer, then they could learn what he was doing before he created the heartless and brought Hollow Bastion to its ruins.

"Oh boy!" Donald cried.

"Yep" Cid said.

"We should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization"

"And maybe something on the dark realm, too?" Sora added.

"It looks like that's where Riku, Hikari's mom and Kairi are"

"And the King" Donald added.

Cid shrugged.

"Go see for yourself" he said.

"It can't hurt" Yuffie added.

"Just get to the computer room through the castle postern" Cid instructed.

"And watch your step"

They nodded and headed towards the postern where they would find Ansem's computer.

/

"I can't wait until we see Ni-san" Hikari said as they walked.

"I've really missed him since we started our journey"

Sora smiled.

"And I'm sure he's missed you too" he said.

Hikari smiled at that.

"Plus, I want to tell him that I remembered our dad" she pointed out.

"I want to ask him why he was always so mad whenever he was around"

Sora shrugged.

"There's only one way to find out" he said.

As they were walking though the Bailey, they heard someone talking.

"Excuse me, are you with the Restoration Committee?"

The group turned around to see a trio of tiny fairy looking girls.

One of them wore an outfit similar to Hikari, one had an all yellow outfit while the last one had a black one.

"What's Leon's gang up to?" the girl that had Hikari's outfit asked.

"They've got stuff to do over by the castle postern" Sora said.

The blonde pumped her fist.

"Scoop!" she declared.

"Let's report" the gothic girl said.

Hikari tilted her head.

"To who?" she asked.

The brunette girl smiled at them.

"Out leader, of course" she said.

"Yeah" the blonde.

"You know, Malef-"

She was cut off by the gothic girl, who covered her mouth.

The group watched as the blond's words were muffles out.

"Don't mind her" the gothic girl said.

"I assure you, we come in peace"

The brunette scoffed.

"You're kidding" she said.

The gothic girl glared at her comrade.

"Problem?" she asked.

"Okay, fine. You do the talking"

She disappeared in a flash of light.

The brunette turned around and bowed to the group.

"So sorry about this" she said.

She disappeared similar to the gothic girl.

The blonde grinned at them before disappearing as well.

The group blinked for a second.

"Well…that was odd" Hikari said.

They just shrugged it off and headed towards the postern.

/

The postern had a giant clock attached to the wall.

It seemed that everyone in the Restoration committee was trying to restore the caste to its former glory.

Hikari looked around for her brother.

"Ni-san!" she called out.

"Over here"

Aerith walked up the steps and headed towards them.

"You guys found Ansem's computer?" Sora asked.

Aerith nodded.

"Uh-huh" she said.

"The King is very interested in it"

Everyone's eyes bugged out.

King Mickey was here?

"The King!" Donald cried.

Aerith nodded again.

"He's with Leon" she said.

Donald and Goofy jumped up and down.

"We get to see the King!" Donald cried.

"Hooray!"

Hikari looked at Aerith hopefully.

If the King was here, then surely that meant his other traveling companions were with him.

"Um…is Riku and my mom with him?" she asked.

Aerith looked at her sadly and shook her head.

Hikari sighed sadly.

So they really weren't with the King.

She smiled weakly.

"Well, at least I can ask the King about them" she said.

"And that computer might be able to tell us something"

"Good idea" Aerith said.

She pointed to a set of stairs.

"The computer is down there" she said.

"Just go through the hallways and you should find the door"

They thanked Aerith and walked down the steps that led to the lower levels.

/

The halls seemed to stretch out forever in the castle's corridors.

The walls blended in with each other and the tiles seemed to act like a pathway to a maze.

The group was so lost in the hallways that they didn't even notice that the alien known as Stitch was crawling along the ceiling.

"Man, we're going to get lost down here" Sora said.

Hikari took a step forward and looked around the corridors.

She remembered that this was where her father worked and would take her with on walks.

An image of a white door flashed through her head.

She quickly ran off and turned through the corridors.

Sora and the others followed her, figuring that she must have known the way.

She skidded to a stop when she saw the white door.

"This is it" she said.

She went up to it and slowly opened the door that lead to Ansem's study.

Dust kicked up from the ground as they entered the room.

Cobwebs were on the semi empty books shelves while broken glass from beakers scattered the floors.

A grand desk stood in the center of the room and on the wall right behind it was a portrait of none other than Ansem.

They slowly went up to the painting and looked at it.

"Gawrsh, I guess this must be his room" Goofy said.

Donald looked around.

"Where's the King?" he asked.

Hikari looked around as well for her brother.

"Ni-san!" she called out.

"Hey, you!"

The group turned to the door to see a young woman standing there.

She wore a black outfit that looked at bit like Cloud's and had shoulder length brown hair.

She looked around the area before looking at them.

"I'm looking for somebody" she said.

"Have any of you guys seen a guy with spiky hair?"

Hikari gasped when she saw the woman.

"Tifa!" she cried.

She remembered that Tifa was Cloud's girlfriend.

Tifa looked at Hikari surprised.

"Hikari? Is that you?" she asked.

She went up to her and looked at her better before smiling.

"You've sure grown up since I've last saw you" she said.

"You look just like your mom"

Hikari blushed at the compliment.

"Thanks" she said.

The martial artist chuckled.

"I'm sure you know which spiky haired person I'm looking for?" she asked.

Hikari nodded.

"I saw Cloud a while ago" she said.

"He was with Mikomi. I don't know where they went to though"

Tifa sighed.

"Why am I not surprised" she said.

"I'll just have a look around"

She looked around the room for a bit before checking the walls.

She tapped on them to see if it was a trap door.

When she couldn't find anything, she kicked it.

"Sorry to bother you" she said.

The guys quickly stood straight.

"No bother, ma'am" they said.

Hikari waved at her.

"See you later, Tifa"

The martial artist closed the door behind her when she left.

"So you made it"

Everyone turned around to see Leon leaning against the wall.

"Leon" Sora said.

Leon just nodded in response.

Hikari smiled brightly.

"Ni-san!"

She ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

Leon smiled softly and hugged her in return.

Hikari rubbed her face in her brother's leather jacket.

"I've missed you so much!" she said.

Leon just ran a hand through her hair.

"I missed you too" he said.

"I'm glad to see you're ok"

Sora looked confused when he realized they were missing someone.

"Isn't the King with you?" he asked.

Leon pressed a finger to his mouth.

"You'll see him soon enough" he said.

"This ought to tide you over for now"

He let go of Hikari and went up to the wall behind him.

He placed his hand on an invisible pad and activated a secret door and opened it.

"Ansem's computer room" Leon explained.

Everyone peered inside to see the room that led to Ansem's computer.

Leon led them through the computerized hallway before showing them the computer room.

Sora quickly went up to the computer.

"This is it!" he cried.

He placed his fingers over the keys.

"Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?"

He typed a few things before banging his hands against' the computer.

Leon winced at that.

"Easy" he said.

"You wanna break it?"

As he was talking, he failed to notice that Stitch crawled up the wall.

Sora laughed nervously.

"Sorry" he said.

Goofy yelped when he saw Stitch up on the ceiling.

The group looked up at the alien.

Stitch blinked at them before loosing his footing and landed on the computer.

Hikari squealed when she saw him and though he was a dog.

"How cute!" she cried.

Donald looked furious.

"Get off of there!" he cried.

He went to lunge at Stitch, but the alien jumped off the computer and let the duck land on it.

Donald stomped on the keys in frustration.

Alarms blared before a voice boomed.

"**Attention current user. This is a warning"** it said.

"**Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action"**

The group looked around in confusion.

"Who's there?" Sora asked.

"**I am the Master Control Program" **the voice said.

"**I oversee the system"**

Hikari looked around for the source of the voice.

"Where are you?" she asked.

Donald looked around nervously and slowly went to get off the computer.

His foot hit one of the keys and caused more alarms to go off.

"Donald!" everyone cried.

"I'm sorry" the duck pleaded.

"**Decision gate reached" **the voice said.

"**You are now under arrest"**

Everyone looked alarmed.

"Arrest?" Sora cried.

They failed to notice that the terminal behind them started to glow.

Leon was the first to see it and panicked.

"Run!" he cried.

But it was too late.

When our heroes turned around, a beam shot out of the terminal and zapped them.

Leon gasped in horror when he saw everyone being digitalized away and was sent into the computer.

He quickly ran to the computer and tried to figure what just happened.

He typed away like a mad man and tried desperately to get his sister back.

"Hikari, please be ok" he pleaded.

As he slammed his fingers on the keyboard, he resisted a gulp.

"If mom finds out that I let her get sucked into the computer, she's going to kill me"

/

**A/N: I know Leon and Hikari's reunion was short, but fear not, we'll see more of it in the next few chapters.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	22. Space Paranoids

Chapter 22: Space Paranoids

**A/N: Yes, we're finally at one of the most anticipated worlds in the game: TRON! And since the new Tron movie is coming out, what better way to promote it than to do a chapter about it? **

**I'll try to get Hikari's outfit of this world out soon, but to save from a long description, her outfit looks like that black one that one chick wears in the new movie.**

**And without further ado, here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari groaned when she came to her senses.

Her mind reeled back to being in Ansem's computer room and suddenly being zapped by a beam and being digitalized.

After that, the rest went blank.

She stirred slightly and forced her eyes open.

She expected to be still in the computer room, but what she saw took the breath right out of her.

She was in the computer room in a sense, but she was _inside _the computer.

Everything was digitalized and looked like a world made by a program.

She looked at herself and saw that her outfit changed too.

She now wore a black one piece outfit that had the sleeves missing and was outlined with glowing blue lines. She wore black fingerless gloves that went up her arms and had similar glowing lines on it. And to top it all off, she wore black combat like boots.

"Wow" she breathed.

She looked to her right and saw Sora passed out on the ground.

She quickly knelt next to him and started shaking him.

"Sora, wake up" she said.

Sora groaned and slowly got up.

He wore a similar outfit as Hikari did, but he wore a helmet on his head that had to pauldrons sticking out in the back.

He was amazed by the scene as she was.

"Where are we?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I have no idea" she said.

"I think we're in the computer somehow"

Sora just looked at the digitalized world in amazement.

They had been to a lot of strange worlds. They had been to ones underwater, ones that were in the jungle. But they had never been in a world that was inside a computer.

The outside world was full of mysteries.

"Sora!"

"Hikari!"

They keyblade masters turned and saw Donald and Goofy surrounded by computerized heartless.

They had their hands up as if they were in trouble and looked uneasy.

Like their comrades, they too, were dressed to fit this world.

The keyblade master's thought it was strange that they were being held captive by a bunch of puny heartless. They could have clobbered them within an instant, so why did they resist.

"Go on, show 'em who's boss!" Sora said.

Hikari decided to go help them since they seemed trouble, but she was stopped when someone digitalized in front of them.

A middle aged man wearing a gray one piece suit and helmet that glowed slightly red stood in front of them.

He seemed to be un pleased by his guests, due to the way he was looking at them.

"Who're you?" Hikari asked.

"I am Commander Sark" the man said.

Sora snorted.

"A heartless commander?" he asked.

That's what they figured.

The heartless didn't obey anyone unless someone very powerful was around.

Sark just scoffed.

He knew they found it hard to believe that he was in control.

"Observe" he said.

He looked at Donald and Goofy for a moment and snapped his fingers.

The suits that they wore started to zap them painfully.

Hikari panicked for her friends and looked at Sark.

"Okay, you're the boss!" she cried.

Sora nodded quickly.

"We get it!"

Sark smirked darkly.

A few heartless appeared behind them and held them hostage too.

Hikari sighed weakly as she held her hands up.

"How embarrassing" she muttered.

/

They group was thrown into a prison block that was a little too small for their taste.

Donald and Goofy looked out the small window and saw more of the programmed world.

Sora ran a hand across his face.

"What kind of world is this, anyway?" he thought out loud.

"You're inside a mainframe computer system" someone said.

Everyone whipped around to see that they were the only ones in the prison cell.

There, sitting against the wall, was a young man who wore a similar outfit as Sark, only his glowed blue from the lining of his outfit. He also wore a simple looking helmet as well.

"A what system?" Sora asked.

"A computer system-for processing data" the man said.

"This system is a copy of one created by a corporation called ENCOM. The original program was destroyed"

He stood up and brushed himself off.

"But this copy was acquired by another User" he said.

"The new User updated and customized the programs, renaming the system 'Hollow Bastion OS. He used this system for town maintenance, and to advance his private research"

He smiled slightly at them.

"My name is Tron" he introduced.

"I'm a security program. But now I'm under arrest, same as you"

Sora looked lost at his friends.

"Did you guys get any of that?" he whispered.

Hikari got some of it, but the rest was gibberish to her.

She didn't really know a lot about computers.

"Maybe we should introduce ourselves" Goofy said.

That sounded like a good plan.

Why strike up a conversation if you don't introduce yourself.

"I'm Sora"

"I'm Hikari"

"And I'm Donald"

"Nice to meet'ca, Tron. I'm Goofy"

Tron nodded to all of them in acknowledgment.

He studied them for a bit before walking up to them.

"With that configuration, you must be Users" he summarized.

"Users?" Hikari asked.

Tron looked around to see if anyone was around before looking back at them.

"You better get out of here quickly" he said.

"Who knows what the MCP will do to you?"

"MCP?" Sora repeated.

"The Master Control Program" Tron explained.

"It controls the whole system. If you idle here, you'll be de-rezzed"

"De-rezzed?" Donald cried.

Hikari didn't need to know what that meant, but she knew it couldn't be good.

"So, how do we get out of here?" she asked.

Tron thought for a moment before looking at the monitor that was within the cell.

He went up to it and examined it.

"This terminal could've gotten you back to the User world" he said.

The group looked relived to hear that. So they had a way to escape.

Tron's face fell.

"But the MCP cut the power 50 microcycles ago" he said.

Everyone's faces fell too. That wasn't good at all.

Tron crossed his arms in thought.

"If we could bring the energy core in the canyon online, we could power it back up" he said.

"The problem is-we're stuck in this cell"

He pointed to the force field that blocked the entrance of the cell.

"We're not going anywhere unless we unlock the energy fields"

Sora and Hikari took a closer look at the fields and saw a keyhole glowing in the center.

They smirked darkly and summoned up their trusted keyblades.

"This ought to help us out" Hikari said.

They aimed their keyblades at the field and unlocked their cell.

"We're free!" Sora cried.

/

In a different part of the program, Sark stood before the MCP.

"Master Control. Why not just de-rezz, Tron?"

That security program had been a thorn in his side for too long.

"I still haven't located the password to the database" MCP said.

"What about a logic probe?" Sark suggested.

"With all you processing power…"

"Out of the question" MCP said.

"The current environment hampers the processing power needed for such an analysis"

Sirens blared around them.

"You're dismissed, Sark" MCP said.

"Stop any remaining anomalies in the system-or else. End of line"

Sark nodded gravely.

"Acknowledged"

/

Sora peered out the cell to see if the coast was clear.

"Remarkable" Tron said.

"It seems you both have some unique functions"

They both laughed nervously. They highly doubted Tron would know anything about the keyblade.

"I'll go with you to the canyon" Tron said.

"You'll need someone who can interface with the energy core, right?"

Hikari shrugged.

Tron did have a point, and there was no way that they would be able to figure all of this themselves.

"If you say so" she said.

"Thanks, Tron"

They left the cell as quietly as they could. They knew they must have triggered some kind of alarm, but they didn't want to detect any heartless.

They went to a platform that took them away from the prison area and towards the main area of the program where they canyon was.

They were surprised that they didn't run into any heartless, but they preferred it that way.

When they made it to the canyon, they walked up to the main core that provided all of the energy.

"This is the energy core" Tron said.

They had to find the missing piece to the core in order for it to work properly.

That was like finding a needle in a haystack with all of the useless parts that cluttered the whole place.

They finally found it under a pile of rubble and placed it in its rightful spot of the core.

The main core activated and sent power back to the terminal.

"Mission accomplished?" Hikari asked.

"Yes" Tron said.

"Now…will you do something for me?"

The group looked surprised but nodded.

"Sure, you got it" Sora said.

Now it was Tron's turn to be surprised.

"Don't you want to hear what it is first?" he asked.

"You helped us" Hikari replied.

"Now it's our turn"

Tron chuckled slightly.

"You guys really are Users" he said.

"Your actions are totally illogical"

Everyone looked confused at that. What did he mean by illogical?

"Let's hurry back to the pit cell" Tron said.

They quickly left the canyon before they were detected by Sark or the heartless.

/

When they made it back to the cell, Tron typed away at the terminal.

"So, what did you want us to do?" Hikari asked.

Tron stood up and looked at them.

"Find my User" he said.

"He'll give you the password to the DTD"

Donald nodded.

"You bet!" he said.

"So, um…" Sora said.

He didn't want to say what the DTD was, but Tron seemed to notice.

"DTD is the name my User gave to the dataspace" he said.

"Copies of all of the original system programs are stored there, along with anything that's sensitive or restricted"

"Is there stuff about the heartless or Organization Xlll?" Goofy asked.

"Most likely" Tron said.

He went back to typing at the terminal.

"A number of my functions were appropriated what I last took on the MCP" he said.

"That's why I need the password. If I can get inside the DTD, I can access my original backup program and restore all my functions. Then I'll be able to put this system back to the way it was before the MCP got control and changed everything. The way that it was supposed to be-a free system for you-the Users"

Goofy thought of something.

"Gee, Tron, ain't the MCP one of those programs, too?" he asked.

"Do you know who it was who made it?" Hikari asked.

Tron shook his head.

"Actually…I don't know" he said.

Sora shrugged.

"Okay, we'll just have to find your User and ask him" he said.

"What's his name?"

Tron looked surprised.

"You mean you don't know?" he asked.

"My User is the user of this system: Ansem the Wise"

Everyone's faces paled drastically.

Ansem was the one who used this system?

The group looked amongst themselves. They couldn't tell Tron that Ansem was the one who messed everything up and had to be destroyed.

However, they were saved from further awkwardness when the terminal began to flicker.

Tron quickly typed something into it.

"Looks like the MCP's on to us" he said.

"I'll keep this terminal up and running. You need to leave the system, now!"

They looked at Tron worriedly.

"Sure" Sora said.

"But, Tron…about Ansem…he's.."

"We'll get you the password!" Donald blurted.

The group looked at him.

Hikari realized that Donald didn't want to give Tron bad news after he was willing to help them escape.

Tron finished tying and looked at them.

"You're good to go" he said.

"Hurry!"

They stepped in front of the terminal and were digitalized back to the real world, where a frantic Leon was waiting for them.

/

**A/N: Sorry if this was short, but I wanted to keep each world as one chapter. And if you think about it, a shorter chapter means another one will be out soon.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	23. The code that leads to a blackened heart

Chapter 23: The code that leads to a blackened heart

**A/N: Hey everyone! We're back to another chapter of this awesome story! Now that the group is out of the computer, things are about to turn for the worse for Hikari. What could it be, and what will happen to Hikari? You'll just have to read to find out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Leon frantically typed away at the computer. It had nearly been an hour since his sister was sucked into the program and there was still no sign of her.

"Come on. Why won't it work?" he asked himself.

Normally, he was calm and collective about serious situations like the heartless and nobodies. But when it came to Hikari's well being, he would go into full panic mode.

Even though they had a father, he was the one who took care of her while growing up. He was there for her when she needed someone and he was the one who looked after her when their world was destroyed.

For all he knew, she was pretty much his daughter.

When he heard the monitor hum behind him, he whipped around to see the group digitalize back into the room.

He was stunned to see that they were alright, but was happy none the less.

Sora and Donald jumped up and down when they saw they were in their normal clothes.

"We did it!" Donald cried.

Hikari sighed with relief.

"Thank god" she said.

Leon ran up to her and hugged her tightly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Hikari nodded while she hugged him back.

"I'm fine" she reassured him.

"Nothing happened to me while I was in the computer"

When Leon let go of her, he looked at Sora.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

Sora explained everything that happened to them and Ansem's program needed the password in order to be unlocked.

"So in other words…Ansem's research data is off-limits unless we know the password" Leon finished.

"I think that's right" Sora said.

He held the bridge of his nose.

Of course Ansem would put up a password on all his programs. He didn't want anyone to read about his research on the heartless of that he was conducting experiments that lead their world to its demise.

"But you already defeated Ansem" he said.

"Maybe we'll never find the password" Goofy said sadly.

Leon just sighed.

"That means…this was all a wild goose chase"

Hikari looked at her brother sadly.

"Sorry, Ni-san" she said.

Leon just looked at her and ruffled her hair.

"It's not your fault" he said.

"I should have known there was a catch to this. Don't beat yourself up over this"

"Who's beating up whom?" Tifa asked.

Everyone looked towards the door to see the martial artist standing there.

She smirked.

"Well, well! A hidden room!" she said.

"Guess I better take another look around"

She walked back into Ansem's study to see if she could find Cloud.

Leon sighed wearily.

"You better make sure she doesn't break anything" he said.

Hikari and Sora ran into the study to see Tifa going through things and tossing stuff around.

Sora sweat dropped.

"She just won't give up…" he said.

Hikari laughed nervously.

"Tifa was always like that" she admitted.

"Once she has something on her mind, she won't stop until it's finished"

She rubbed her head nervously.

"Then again, I'm no different"

Donald and Goofy came into the room and watched the scene before them.

"Let's try to find the password" Goofy suggested.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah. We promised Tron" he said.

They searched around the room to see if they could find any clues.

Hikari looked through the desk to see if she could find any papers that might have had the password written on them, but the only thing she could were a few cobwebs.

"Figures" she muttered.

She turned around and looked at the picture that stood behind her.

She made a face she as she looked at Ansem's portrait.

How could he look so calm and collective when he brought ruin to so many worlds?

Tifa examined the portrait for a sec before walking up to it.

"Excuse me"

She picked it up with ease and set it down on the floor.

Everyone looked up at the wall to see some writing and drawings painted on it.

Tifa looked at it and checked to see if it was a secret door.

She sighed sadly when she saw that it wasn't and walked away.

Sora examined the wall.

"What's this doodle?" he asked.

Donald looked at the words and read them out loud.

"Hollow…Main…Security…Tron…Door to…"

"Looks like a diagram or something" Goofy Said.

"Door…to…Darkness?" Donald finished.

It suddenly dawned to Hikari what this writing was.

"Oh!" she cried.

"D-T-D!"

It dawned on the others as well what this.

"DTD!"

This was the password that Tron was talking about.

Hikari looked at the computer room where her brother was.

"Ni-san!" she cried.

Leon ran into the room.

"What's up?" he asked.

Hikari smiled and pointed towards the drawing.

"Look at this!" she said.

"This must be the dataspace! The DTD. See? The Door to Darkness"

Leon went up to it and examined it.

"What do you know" he said.

"But…that still leaves the password"

"Say fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?"

Everyone turned around when they heard someone at the door.

They all gasped when they saw none other than King Mickey smiling at them.

He still wore the black coat from before, but it was him none the less.

"Your Majesty!" everyone cried.

Mickey panicked and pressed a finger to his lips.

He looked out at the hallway to make sure no one was around before closing the door.

When he pulled his hood back, he was bombarded by Donald and Goofy, who hugged him tightly.

Sora and Hikari smiled at the scene.

They were happy to see that their friends had finally found their king at last.

Hikari was upset that her mother and Riku weren't with him, but she figured the King knew where they were.

When Donald and Goofy pulled away, Mickey looked at his fellow keyblade wielders.

"Long time no see!" Sora said.

Mickey pressed a finger to his lips again.

"The Organization might be listening" he said.

Sora nodded in understanding.

"You mentioned the Door to Darkness?" Mickey whispered.

"Uh, yes sir" Goofy said.

"Ya see, we're looking for the secret password"

"Password?" Mickey repeated.

Everyone nodded.

"Oh, I guess you mean like a code" Mickey said.

"Well, the Door to Darkness can only be opened by the eight princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, Bell…."

It dawned on Leon what the password was.

"Of course" he said.

Mickey looked at his friends.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked.

"With that password, we can get access to Ansem's research data" Hikari said.

Mickey looked surprised.

"So that means you might be able to find out where he is!" he cried.

Everyone chuckled.

Did he forget that Ansem was destroyed back at Kingdom Hearts?

"Stop joking around, your Majesty" Sora said.

"We already defeated Ansem. You know that"

Mickey sighed when he realized the scenario he was in.

"Looks like I've got a lot of explaining to do" he said.

"We're listening, your Majesty" Donald said.

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't Tron waiting for you guys?" he asked.

The group looked torn.

They wanted to help out Tron, but they also wanted to listen to what Mickey had to say.

The King just smiled at them.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere" he said.

"if those heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everyone else"

The group sighed in relief when they heard that.

"Oh! One more thing" Mickey said.

"Sora, Hikari. Let me give your clothes some new powers"

He activated the Master Mode to their outfits.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Sora said.

Hikari smiled in gratitude.

"You've both done so much-just consider them as a thank you present" the King said.

Sora smiled and headed towards the computer room with Donald and Goofy.

Hikari started to follow, but stopped to look at the King.

She felt that it was selfish of her to be asking something of him now of all times, but she just needed to know where Riku and her mom where.

She was so worried about them, that it made her sick.

Mickey tilted his head when he saw her walking towards him.

"Something wrong, Hikari?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"No, Your Majesty" she said.

"It's just…I just wanted to ask you something"

Mickey had a feeling what she was going to ask.

"You want to know where your mother is, don't you?"

Hikari nodded and knelt in front of him.

"I know she was with you last when we closed Kingdom Hearts" she said.

"I figured you would know where she was since you were with her"

She gave him a sad, pleading look.

"Can you tell me where she is?" she asked.

"I need to know that she's alright and that she isn't caught up with this whole mess with the Organization"

Mickey looked at the ground sadly.

"Listen, Hikari…" he said.

"I know you're worried about your mom. But there's something that I should tell you about he-"

"Hikari, what's the hold up?" Leon said.

He stood near the entry towards the computer room as he looked at her.

"Sora and the others are waiting for you"

Hikari looked at her brother then back at Mickey.

"I'll tell you later" he said.

Hikari nodded sadly and slowly rose up.

When she got to her feet, she felt the searing pain within her chest.

She flinched and grabbed her chest.

Leon looked a little alarmed.

"Hikari?"

Hikari's hand dug into the fabric of her top as the pain increased.

Out of all of the chest pains that she felt during her journey, this was the worse one.

She started having a hard time breathing and hand to lean on Ansem's desk for support.

Leon rushed over to her when she started having a coughing fit.

He gripped her shoulders and had worry completely etched into his face.

"Hikari? What's wrong?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Hikari couldn't talk because she coughed so much.

The pain became a lot worse in her chest and she leaned into her brother for support.

Mickey started to get scared as well and looked at Leon.

"What's wrong with her?"

Leon shook his head.

"I don't know"

Hikari tasted a foul liquid rising from her throat. She thought it was bile a first, but knew that bile didn't tasted this awful. It was so bitter and rotten that it almost made her throw up.

Leon brushed her hair back to see that she was breaking out in a cold sweat.

He knew something was horribly wrong with his sister.

"Hikari, what's wrong?" he asked again.

Hikari went to speak, but instead, a black like liquid spewed out of her mouth and got all over his shirt.

Leon paled drastically and caught his sister when she passed out from the pain and toppled over.

"Hikari!"

Sora and the others rushed into the room.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

Leon had his back towards the others, so they didn't see the substance that Hikari coughed up.

He looked over his shoulder at them. He didn't want them to see what kind of state his sister was in.

"Nothing" he said quickly.

"Hikari just…had another memory lapse" he said.

The others seemed to buy it since they nodded.

"Oh right, she gets that when she remembers a strong memory" Sora said.

"She had that when she remembered Maleficent" Donald added.

Goofy smiled.

"Maybe she's remembered who her dad is" he said.

Leon gulped nervously at hearing that.

"She remembered our dad?" he asked.

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, but she can't remember his name or what his face looks like" he admitted.

He smiled.

"Hey! Maybe you can tell her as a way to jog her memories of him. I'm sure she'll like that"

Leon's hand curled into a fist at the mention of his dad.

His eyes grew hard as he looked away from them.

"Why don't you go wait into the computer room" he suggested.

"Hikari needs room to breathe and come to her senses"

Sora was about to protest about waiting, but he backed off when he saw the harsh stare Leon gave him.

"R-right! We need a break anyway" he said.

He quickly fled to the computer room with Donald and Goofy hot on his trail.

When Leon and Mickey were alone, they looked back at Hikari.

The young sorceress was pale as a ghost as she rest against her brother.

Leon carefully picked her up and leaned against the wall before placing her in his lap.

He brushed her hair away and wipe the black liquid from her lips.

When he went to wipe her chin, his eyes widen when he noticed that her pendent wasn't on her neck.

"Where's her pendant?" he asked.

He didn't notice it before because he tried to avoid looking at her outfit.

Mickey slowly went up to them and looked at him sadly.

"Riku has it" he said.

"When Hikari and Sora closed Kingdom Hearts, Taiyouko went with Riku on the other side. She's been traveling with him since then just to make sure he returns to Hikari in one piece"

When he saw how pale Leon was, he realized something.

"That pendant was more than just a piece of jewelry…wasn't it?"

Leon nodded slowly.

"There was a reason why mom was so protective of her when it came to Ansem" he said.

"Her heart is more different than the other princesses. That pendant was suppose to protect her from the darkness"

Mickey swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

He suddenly recalled the others saying that Hikari was starting to remember her father.

He looked at the torn expression that was etched on Leon's face.

"Uh…Leon?" he said.

"If Hikari is remembering her father…don't you think she should know who he is?"

He stepped back when he saw the icy stare Leon gave him.

"Don't you even dare bring _him _up" he snapped.

"After everything he did, he doesn't deserve the title as 'dad'. I'm Hikari's father figure and I always have been. I took care of her, not him!"

He rubbed his sister's back when he heard her whimper.

He looked at her sadly as she slept.

"Besides" he said.

"She's better off not remembering who that monster was and what he did"

/

**A/N: talk about a plot twist. Not only has Hikari's heart problem gone from bad to extremely worse, but now her father's origins are starting to leak out.**

**The fog clouding his identity is starting to clear away.**

**Who is he, and why does Leon hate him so much? And what was that dark substance that Hikari coughed up?**

**You'll just have to review to find out.**

**Ja ne**


	24. Defeat the system

Chapter 24: Defeat the system

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't update in a while, I suffered a major writers block for this chapter. But since you're all wondering if Hikari is ok, I'll calm you down and give you another chapter.**

**I was really happy to see how many reviews I got from the last chapter. I think that was the most I got from a chapter in this story so far!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

/

_Hikari looked up at her mother to see her look worry and frantic._

"_What's wrong, mommy?"_

_Taiyouko looked at her daughter and quickly knelt down in front of her._

"_N-nothing's wrong, honey" she said._

_She ran her hand through her hair in a nervous manner._

_The sorceress looked over her shoulder to peer down the dark hallway before looking back at her daughter._

_Hikari just tilted her head in confusion._

_Why was her mother acting nervous and why did she keep looking over her shoulder?_

_Taiyouko looked at Hikari for a moment before giving her a weak grin._

"_Hold still for a sec, honey" she said._

_She held out her hand, which glowed darkly._

"_Mommy just wants to place a spell on you that will protect you from the darkness"_

_Hikari slowly approached her mother and let her place her hand over her heart._

_The young girl flinched when she felt her mother place the spell on her._

_Her heart started to burn and flared up with pain._

_The longer her mother kept her hand on her chest, the worse the pain became._

"_Mommy, it hurts!" she cried._

_Taiyouko looked torn as she saw the pain her daughter was going through._

"_I know, honey. I know" she said._

"_But this will protect you from __him__"_

_When she finished the spell, she slowly pulled her hand away._

_Hikari swayed slightly before falling into her mother's arms._

_Taiyouko held her daughter tightly within her arms._

_A tear ran down her face when she saw how pale Hikari was._

"_I'm so sorry" she said._

"_But I can't let you fall into his hands"_

/

A weak groan came from Hikari's lips as she came around.

Her mind reeled over what happened to her before she blacked out.

The only thing she could recall from it was that her heart felt that it was literally on fire and that she coughed up this nasty black substance.

Her eyes slowly opened to see Leon, and King Mickey hovering over her.

Leon let out a sigh of relief when he saw his sister waking up.

"Thank goodness" he said.

Hikari slowly took everything in and noticed that she was being held by her brother.

She sluggishly sat up in his lap with his help and looked at him.

Leon looked at his sister sadly and swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari slowly nodded.

"Yeah…I think" she said quietly.

Her hand subconsciously went over to her heart.

Out of all of the chest pains that she dealt with through her journey, that was the worst one.

Although, the one that she remembered that she felt as a child was pretty bad.

She looked up at her brother's face.

"Hey, Ni-san. Did mom every place a spell on me?" she asked.

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Hikari looked at her hands for a moment.

"I just remember that mom placed some sort of spell on me when I was little" she said.

"She said it would protect me from someone…I think she meant Ansem. I also remembered that it hurt a lot, but it was nothing like what I felt just a few minutes ago"

Leon and Mickey gave each other a look before looking at the young sorceress.

"I need to ask you something" Leon said seriously.

"Was that the first time that you felt these chest pains?"

Hikari shook her head.

"No. I've been having them ever since I started out on this journey" she said.

"They weren't really that bad, but lately they've been getting worse. And now I'm coughing up a strange substance"

Leon's face paled.

Hikari didn't notice that her brother was as white as a ghost and slowly stood up.

"I should get going" she said.

"Sora must be waiting for me to help him with Tron"

She staggered as she got to her feet and had to have Leon steady her.

"You should just stay out here" he suggested.

"I don't think you should be moving around when you're suffering chest problems"

Hikari gave him a weak smile.

"I'm glad you're worried about me, Ni-san. But I'll be fine" she said.

"After all, I'm a keyblade master and a sorceress. I can't afforded having Sora doing all the work. It's my responsibility to save the worlds too"

She walked past her brother and headed for the computer room.

Mickey looked at Leon to see the gunblade wielder grip his hand into a tight fist.

"Leon?" he asked.

The gunblade master just ignored him and slammed his fist into the wall.

An indent was left in his place when he pulled his hand back.

His bangs covered his eyes as he looked at the ground.

His blue eyes were as cold as ice.

"How could you, mom?" he asked himself.

/

Sora smiled when he saw Hikari walk into the room.

"Hey! You're up!" he said.

Hikari laughed nervously.

"Yeah. Sorry about that" she said.

The group just shrugged it off.

"It's ok" Goofy said.

"You must have reached your limits. You've been going nonstop since we started this journey, so you were bound to collapse soon"

"Yeah. Just be glad that you were able to rest somewhere safe" Donald said.

"Who knows where the Organization is at?"

Hikari smiled at her friends.

It touched her that they really cared about her.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked.

"Tron is waiting for us"

Sora nodded and typed something into the computer.

The monitor behind them hummed to life and zapped them back into Space Paranoids.

/

The Pit Cell looked the same as it did a few moments ago. Nothing was out of place.

However, the only thing that stood out was that Tron was nowhere to be seen.

"Gawrsh, I wonder where Tron is" Goofy said.

Everyone looked around the cell in wonder.

Donald glared at Goofy when he saw him touching the monitor.

"Don't touch that!" he cried.

The screen started to act funny.

"Goofy!" Hikari cried.

She, along with Sora and Donald were suddenly zapped away.

"But I didn't do it"

He was zapped away as well.

/

They were all sent to this giant game grid where there were a set of light bikes (A/N: I don't know if that's what their called. I haven't seen the old movie so if it's wrong, please bear with me)

"I didn't touch nothin'!" Goofy said.

Sora and Hikari just looked around the game grid.

"Welcome to the game grid!" Sark's voice boomed.

They looked around for him, but there was no sign of the evil program.

"Game grid?" Sora asked.

"That's right, you've been chosen to play a few games" Sark said.

"Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win? Well…."

He laughed.

"No one wins"

Hikari glared up at the sky.

"We're not gonna play your games!" she said.

"You have no choice" Sark said.

Sora growled.

"Well then, get on with it!"

Sark must have done something because a maze was programmed into the grid.

"Well, this doesn't look so bad" Goofy said.

Seconds later, heartless appeared.

"Except for that" Hikari said.

Sora went to one of the bikes and hopped on.

"Hurry!" he cried.

Hikari went to the other one and started it up.

Donald jumped on Sora's bike while Goofy joined Hikari.

"You guys take care of the heartless, we'll get us out of here" Sora said.

The keyblade masters pushed their foot on the peddles and zoomed off.

The heartless in this program were created to fit their environment, so they had built in cycles as well.

Whenever they got too close, Donald and Goofy would knock them away.

One of the heartless got sneaky and went to zap them.

"Look out!" Sora cried.

They both swiveled out of the way and watched as it beam went through the wall, creating an opening.

"It looks like we can escape through there" Hikari said.

They aimed their bikes for the opening and zoomed through the grid.

Sark must have seen the opening because he messed around with the maze so it would be blocked by a wall.

"Like that's gonna stop us" Sora said.

They zipped through the maze, all the while avoiding the heartless.

When they reached the exit, they were sent out of the game grid and back to their cell.

/

Sora sighed when they made it back to the cell.

"I guess that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be" Hikari said.

Sora just chuckled before he gasped.

There in front of them was Tron collapsed on the ground.

"Tron!"

They ran up to their friend and helped him up.

Tron groaned as he got to his feet.

He looked at his friends in confusion.

"I don't understand. Why are you here?" he asked.

"We came to give you the password" Sora said.

Tron held the bridge of his nose.

"Why didn't you just transmit the data?"

Hikari tilted her head.

Once again, technology threw her off.

"Transmit?"

Tron suddenly started to fall over.

Sora and Hikari quickly caught him.

"Hey, are you ok?" Sora asked.

Hikari tried to heal him, but she didn't know if her magic would work on a program.

"I'll be alright..." Tron said.

"Once we access the DTD"

Hikari gave him a potion.

"I don't know if this will work, but it beats crashing down" she said.

They went out of the pit cell and headed towards the canyon.

/

It seemed that the MCP learned of their escape last time since there were heartless waiting for them.

"How is it that beings made from a person's heart is in a computer of all places?" Hikari asked.

"How the heck would I know?" Sora asked.

"I don't know anything about technology"

They made their way through the canyon before they reached dataspace.

Tron went up to the main computer and started typing away.

"All right, what's the password?" he asked.

"Well…Belle, Snow White…" Donald started.

"Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella…" Goofy said.

"Hikari" Hikari said.

Everyone looked at Sora, who had his head bowed.

"Kairi…" he said.

Tron nodded.

"Got it"

He typed the last of the password in and was rewarded with the data opening up.

"That did it!" he cried.

That happiness was short lived however, when an alarm went off.

"Now switching DTD over from hibernation to active mode" the computer said.

"On no!" Tron cried.

He typed something into the computer.

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked.

"It's the DTD's final security routine" Tron said.

The heartless insignia appeared on all of the screens.

Heartless appeared in the room and surrounded them.

"We need to freeze the screens" Tron said.

He pulled out his identity disk and threw it at the main screen, freezing it.

"Now that only leaves two" Sora said.

Hikari slashed through a heartless that got close to her.

"I'm sure our keyblades are up for that kind of task" she said.

Hikari aimed her keyblade at one of the monitors while Sora aimed his at the other.

The screens went back to normal after they were zapped with light.

When the system calmed down, Tron placed his hand on the panel screen.

The DTD's data went through him and energized him.

Tron smiled.

"I'm good as new!" he cried.

"All my functions have been restored!"

"Oh boy!" Donald cried.

Alarms went off again.

"**Finally" **the MCP said.

"**I have full access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete. I might have anticipated such a simple password"**

Files flashed across the screen.

"**What's this? An emergency destruct program of the town. Let's see how it performs"**

Hikari gasped in horror.

If that program went off, then her brother and all her friends would be killed.

"No!" Tron cried.

He placed his hand back on the panel and sent the energy back into the computer.

He looked determined as he typed away at the computer.

"**Program! You changed the password!" **

"There, that should buy us some time" Tron said.

"What's going on?" Hikari asked.

"The MCP is loading a hostile program into the I/O Tower" Tron said.

"What do we do?" Donald asked.

"We've got to protect the user town" Tron said.

"Let's head to the tower!"

They quickly left the dataspace and headed towards where the tower was.

/

The trip to the tower was a lot harder than it was to the dataspace.

It seemed that the heartless multiplied to prevent them from entering the tower.

"You stupid heartless are no match for us!" Sora cried.

Hikari just sweat dropped.

"You're starting to sound like a cheesy superhero" she said.

However, when a heartless came at her, she acted like an idiot as well.

"You want a piece of me?"

Tron looked at Donald and Goofy.

"Do all Users act this way?" he asked.

Donald gave his keyblade friends a dull stare.

"No. Only those two" he said.

/

When they reached the tower, the group saw a huge pillar of darkness standing before them.

"It must be total chaos outside" Tron said.

"I think there's gonna be trouble INSIDE, too…" Hikari said.

They heard something coming from outside the room.

"That can't be good" Sora said.

They quickly ran out to see what it was and were greeted to a giant programmed heartless.

"**I'm disappointed in you, program" **the MCP said.

"**Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?"**

Tron glared up at the ceiling.

"Because I want to help them" he said.

"Something written into my code commands me to do what's right"

"**Really?" **MCP asked.

**And what command would that be?"**

Tron looked at his hands for a moment.

"I can't really say for sure" he admitted.

Sora smiled.

"Friends" he said.

"They help each other, that's all"

"And that 'code' you're experiencing is your 'heart'" Hikari said.

"It's telling you that helping your friends is the right thing to do"

Tron smiled at them.

The heartless suddenly blocked off the entrance that lead to the tower so they couldn't escape.

"These things just have a one track mind" Hikari said.

Sora flipped out of the way when the heartless charged at them while Hikari did a sliding dash.

Since this heartless was a programmed one, that meant it was easy to freeze it up. And with the help of Tron, they were able to do that a couple of times.

"I think I'm starting to like technology" Sora said.

"Yeah, no kidding" Hikari said.

Tron powered up his identity disk and flung it at the heartless.

It twitched for a second before it was de-rezzed completely.

"That ought to keep the MCP away for a while" Tron said.

He looked at his friends.

"Come on. I'll go upload the terminal for you guys"

They headed back to the I/O Tower before the MCP could do anything else to them.

/

The dark pillar that stood within the tower was gone and was replaced by one of light.

Everyone just stood in the room while Tron worked on the Terminal.

"I really owe you one" he said to them.

"With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want"

Hikari looked at the ground.

"What Ansem would want…" she mumbled.

She looked at Sora to see him nodded.

Tron had to know the truth about his User.

Hikari slowly walked up to Tron.

"Listen, Tron" she said.

"We didn't get the password from Ansem"

"We just sort of found it, back in the User world" Sora added.

"By accident"

Hikari ran a hand through her hair.

"And one more thing…" she said.

"Ansem-he was our enemy. I mean…he still is…I guess"

Tron stopped what he was doing and looked at them.

They thought that he would be upset, but instead, he looked rather calm.

"Well, actually…he's my enemy too" he said.

Everyone looked surprised.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use" Tron explained.

"I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So, that makes him my User. But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew would never do that. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you"

Sora and Hikari shook their heads.

"That's ok" Sora said.

"But know I REALLY don't get it"

"I don't…understand it either" Tron admitted.

Hikari snickered.

"Wow, even the program doesn't know the powers of technology" she joked.

Tron smirked.

"But I think Users like you, are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out" he admitted.

"You have the ability to take illogical routes and still arrive at the answers you seek"

The group smiled at that.

"Now go-before the MCP starts acting up again" Tron said.

"Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my User's terminal. I'll keep a dedicated access channel for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while"

"Access channel?" Sora asked.

Tron chuckled.

"I knew you'd ask" he said.

"It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected"

The monitor started to digitalized them back to the real world.

"Wait, Tron!" Hikari asked.

"You never told us the password!"

Tron smiled at them.

"You…my friends…are the password" he said.

With that, they were sent back into the computer lab.

/

Leon looked relived when he saw Hikari come back in one piece. And judging by her face, she didn't suffer and heart problems.

"Well, that's that!" Sora said.

Leon smirked and pointed to the computer screen.

"Look" he said.

The group went up to the screen and saw cartoon versions of themselves dancing with the words 'thank you' underneath them.

Hikari smiled softly.

"Tron…hang in there" she said.

It seemed after her latest adventure, she realized that you could make friends just about anywhere.

Including within a program.

/

**A/N: And there you go. Now that they have access to the DTD, they can start to unravel the truth behind the Organization and about Hikari's past. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	25. 1000 Heartless Battle

Chapter 25: 1000 Heartless Battle

**A/N: Hey everyone! Since I'm on Thanksgiving Weekend, I've decided to update the next chapter. Hopefully, this will be a nice long chapter.**

**Happy Thanksgiving!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"So, where do we start?" Leon asked.

"I know! Let's access the DTD" Hikari said.

Leon went up to the computer and typed stuff in.

"The king's checking the situation in town" he said.

"He'll be back soon, so don't worry"

He looked over his shoulder.

"It's asking for a password"

Goofy grinned.

"That's easy. It's…"

"Sora!" Sora blurted.

Leon nodded and started typing it in.

"Hikari" Hikari added.

"Donald"

"Goofy!"

Leon smirked when he got through.

"I'm in" he said.

They looked at the screen to see all kinds of information on it.

Leon looked at his sister and her friends.

"I have to go into town" he said.

"Need to see what that last shakeup did"

Hikari frowned at her brother.

"You're not gonna check out the data?" she asked.

"It wasn't exactly easy to get!" Sora added.

Leon just gave them a smirk.

"I'm coming right back" he said.

"Why don't you get started on loading the data and copying it down? It's just a few keystrokes. Easy, right?"

He patted Sora on the shoulder as he walked by.

As he walked by Hikari, he pulled her into a one-arm hug and kissed her on the forehead.

"You be careful, ok?" he asked.

"And don't do anything that will strain you"

With that, he walked out of the computer room to see how everything was doing.

Hikari stood there dumbfounded.

Leon never gave anybody a kiss. It was rare that he would give one to her and that was only when something really bad happened to her. It was as if he was telling her that she would be alright and that he was there for her.

She looked at the ground sadly.

"_I guess when I passed out and coughed that stuff up, it really scared him" _she thought.

"_I'm sorry, Ni-san"_

She looked over at Sora to see him typing stuff into the computer-or rather, attempting to type stuff out.

"Did it work?" Donald asked.

Sora gave him a look.

"Hey, these things take time, ok?"

Hikari sighed and hip checked him out of the way.

"Let me do it" she said.

She started typing something in and watched as data flew across the screen.

"Looks like it's doing something" she said.

"I think it wants to know what we want to know" Goofy said.

"Riku and Kairi!" Sora blurted.

Hikari typed in their names and watched as data went across the page.

She frowned when the words 'Data Error' flashed across the screen.

"No way" she breathed.

"Even Ansem's computer doesn't know…"

Goofy went up to the computer and started typing stuff in.

"Whatcha doing?" Donald asked.

"I thought I'd ask the computer if it can tell us about them Nobodies" he said.

He typed some more and was surprised to see a file with the Nobody insignia on it.

"What's this?" Sora asked.

Just then, the 'Data Error' message flashed across the screen.

"The data is corrupt" the computer said.

"How about the Organization?" Goofy suggested.

He typed it in and was met with the same message.

"The data is corrupt"

"Stupid computer!" Sora cried.

He started hitting it in frustration.

"Sora! Cut it out!" Hikari cried.

"My brother is going to kill you if you break it!"

Just then, an image of a middle aged man with blonde appeared on the screen.

He wore a white lab coat with a red scarf around his neck.

"Who's this guy?" Sora asked.

Just then, Taiyouko's image appeared next to the man.

"Hey! That's my mom!" Hikari cried.

Sora looked at her.

"Do you know who this guy is?" he asked.

Hikari looked at the image for a moment and recalled a certain memory.

/

_Hikari and Leon walked along the hallways of the castle with a middle aged man._

_Hikari gripped the man's hand tightly as they went through one of the darker hallways._

"_Grandpa, it's scary down here" she said._

_The man chuckled and gave her hand a slightly squeeze._

"_There's nothing to be afraid of, Hikari" he said._

_Leon looked up at his grandpa._

"_Does mom know that you're with us?" he asked._

"_She said you were busy on some project"_

_His response was a slight chuckle._

"_You're mother doesn't have to know everything that I do" he said._

"_Besides. I'm allowed to spend some time with my grandchildren"_

_They walked some more to an unknown destination._

/

Hikari looked at the man that she now knew was her grandfather.

"This man…." She said quietly.

"I think he's my grandpa"

Sora looked surprised.

"Welp. I see ya got things workin'!"

Everyone turned around to see King Mickey by the doorway.

Mickey smiled and walked up to them.

"Good going" he said.

"The computer should tell us the things we need to know"

"But it keeps on saying the data inside is all ker-skuffled" Goofy said.

"All we got is a picture of Hikari's grandpa" Sora said.

When Mickey saw the picture, he jumped.

"Ansem the Wise!" he cried.

Everyone looked confused.

How was this guy Ansem? He was a lot younger looking than this man. Plus, he would have told Hikari if he had any connections with her.

"Come on, are you teasing us again?" Sora asked.

"Did you forget what Ansem looked like, your Majesty?" Donald added.

"Of course I do!" Mickey said.

"And this is him! I'm positive!"

Sora sighed and grabbed Mickey's hand.

"Excuse me" he said.

"Could you come this way please?"

He led the king back into the study where Ansem's picture stood.

/

"Look, THIS is Ansem" Sora said.

"You know, the guy we worked reeeally hard to defeat?" Hikari added.

It dawned on Mickey that he forgot something.

"Oh, that's right-I never finished explaining" he said.

"Well, the man in the picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts-the one you fellas defeated. But, what you actually fought was his heartless. Ya see, he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everyone he was"

Everyone's mouth was hung open.

"WHAT?" they cried.

"You mean we went through all that trouble to defeat an imposter?" Sora asked.

Hikari went up to the wall and started banging her head against it.

"No! It never ends!" she cried.

Mickey gave them a sheepish smile.

"Yep. A fake" he said.

"But he had to be stopped"

"Aww, I can't believe this…" Donald said.

"I'm kinda confused" Goofy said.

"Aren't we all" Hikari said.

Goofy looked at the King.

"If he's a fake, then what happened to the real Ansem?"

Mickey shrugged.

"Well, that's just what I was trying to figure out" he said.

"Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization Xlll's plans, and what's been happening to the worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help"

He looked at the others.

"Ya know, I came close to finding him once…"

"Why didn't you just ask my mom?" Hikari asked.

"I'm sure she would know about grandpa's whereabouts"

Mickey looked at the ground.

"Taiyouko got separated from him when Hollow Bastion was taken over" he said.

"Plus, she never really had positive relationship with him. she really didn't talk to him after you were born"

Hikari frowned at that.

She never would have imagined that her mom would have family issues.

Goofy looked at the painting and thought of something.

"Don't tell me there's more" Sora whined.

"I'm lost as it is"

Goofy looked at them.

"I've been thinking" he said.

"Some feller named Ansem, who wasn't really Ansem, became a Heartless. Does that mean a Nobody was created when that happened, too?"

Mickey nodded.

"Yep!"

"And that Nobody is the leader of Organization Xlll"

Mickey looked back at the painting.

"I know I've met this Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization Xlll , too" he said.

"Kinda felt like being around the same fella"

"So, where did you meet this guy?" Hikari asked.

Mickey hung his head.

"Gosh. I can't remember" he said.

"Ansem the Wise-the real Ansem-must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it"

Sora glared at the painting.

"You" he hissed.

"You started all of this! Because of you, Riku and Kairi…"

Hikari quickly remembered what she wanted to say to Mickey before she passed out.

"Oh! Your Majesty, do you know where Riku and my mom are?"

Mickey flinched at the names.

"They…" he said.

He hung his head.

"I'm sorry. I can't help"

Hikari's heart dropped as she heard that.

The King was her only chance in learning Riku's whereabouts. If he couldn't tell her where he was, then all was lost.

Sora frowned when he saw the defeated look on Hikari's face.

He knew just how hard she was trying to reunite with Riku and her mom. He couldn't let it end this way.

He went up to Mickey.

"Really, your Majesty?" he asked.

Mickey turned away from him.

"Are you sure?"

Mickey looked at the ground sadly.

"I'm sorry" he said.

Hikari fell to her knees.

There was no way that the King wouldn't know where Riku and her mom were. There was just no way.

"Please, you Majesty" she begged.

"You must know where they are. You were with them on the other side of Kingdom Hearts when we closed it!"

Mickey looked at her sadly.

"I know you're worried about them, Hikari. But I can't help you with this"

Hikari gripped the carpet underneath her.

This is not what she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear that he knew where they were and was willing to tell them where they were.

"Then can you at least tell me if they're alright?" she pleaded.

"Are they alive at least?"

She hoped that wasn't the case, but she had to know something about them.

Mickey gave her a weak smile.

"They're alright" he said.

"But I lost track of them a while back. I wish I could help, but there's nothing I can do"

Hikari slowly nodded.

At least that was something.

"Mom…Riku…"

Sora looked at Mickey.

"What about Kairi?" he asked.

"Organization Xlll might've kidnapped her"

Mickey panicked at that.

"Oh no!" he cried.

He looked at the painting then at them.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald, Goofy" he said.

"I was planning to get help from Ansem the Wise. But-now I know I forgot the most important thing"

He smiled.

"Helping others should always come before asking others for help. We're safe and sound-and free to choose!" he said.

"So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends. Let's look for Riku and Kairi together"

Just as he said that, a loud explosion from outside shook the whole area.

"Outside!" Sora cried.

Hikari panicked.

"Ni-san!"

Mickey suddenly looked serious.

"Sounds like we gotta start by helping out here!"

He dashed out the room with the others following after him.

It seemed like the chaos was about to start.

/

Out near the bailey, the heartless had managed to break through the wall and were entering the town.

People screamed in fear as they attacked in huge groups.

They had never seen anything like this since their world was taken over.

/

Maleficent and Pete stood near the entryway of the undercroft and watched as their heartless were fighting with the nobodies.

"Hear me, my heartless! "Maleficent cried.

"Attack the white husks! Sweep them away!"

"What are you nuts?" Pete asked.

"We're never gonna win! I don't know about you, but I'm outta here, sister!"

Maleficent rolled her eyes when she saw Pete left.

"You pathetic coward!" she hissed.

She was the Nobodies destroying her heartless and scoffed. She thought she was in trouble, but when she saw Hikari and the others enter the room, she came up with a new plan.

"Heartless!" she ordered.

"Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Hikari and her friends!"

Hikari glared at the evil sorceress when she disappeared.

"You coward!" she cried.

Sora held up his keyblade.

"We don't have time for this!" he cried.

"Tell me something I don't know?" Hikari asked.

She sighed when she saw the heartless and nobodies closing in on them.

"I guess this is a perfect chance to try out my Master Form"

She reverted into her latest form that consisted an all yellow leather outfit that had a frill covering her shoulders (A/N: It's like Paine's outfit from FF X-2. I just didn't want to describe it)

Sora followed her example and went into Master form as well.

"Let's get this over with"

They zipped through the room and hacked through any heartless or Nobody that got in their way.

When they were all gone, they reverted back to their normal outfits.

"Gotta love an upgrade" Sora said.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine flew towards them.

"Where's Maleficent?" Yuna asked.

"Looks like she ran away" Hikari said.

Rikku put her hands on her hips.

"Well that was PRET-ty lame of her" she said.

"I guess we picked the wrong side" Paine said.

The three little girls started talking amongst them, leaving our heroes in the dark.

Sora sweat dropped when he saw that they weren't going to shut up.

"Um, hey…if you're looking to pick sides, why don't you pick Leon's?" he offered.

"They can always use help"

Yuna looked at him.

"Does this Leon have any treasure?" she asked.

Donald nodded.

"Yeah, lots of stuff!"

The tiny girls smiled.

"Perfect!" Rikku cried.

"Let's go" Paine said.

They flew off to go help Leon.

"Did Leon…really have any treasure?" Sora asked.

Donald laughed darkly.

Hikari glared at him and kicked him.

"Don't drag my brother into this" she said.

They quickly ran up the stairs to head outside.

/

"I hope everyone is ok" Sora said.

As they headed towards the bailey, a light appeared before then. When the light vanished, a man stood in its place.

He wore a warrior like outfit with a black wing sprouting from his back. He had long silver hair and carried a long sword.

The man smirked darkly as he looked at them.

Donald gasped.

"It's Sephiroth!"

Hikari paled.

She remembered Cloud and Mikomi talking about him.

So this was the man who was tearing them apart.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" Goofy asked.

Sephiroth laughed darkly.

"Did Cloud tell you that?" he asked.

"Then he must understand now"

Hikari glared at him.

"What are you going to do to him?" she asked.

Sephiroth shrugged.

"Nothing" he said.

"Cloud is the one who hungers for darkness"

"He said he's got a score to settle with you" Sora said.

"I see…" Sephiroth said.

"He wants to meet me again"

He turned around and started walking away.

"Then I should give him what he wants" he said.

"That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out"

With that, he flew off to go find his other half.

"I hope Cloud will be ok" Sora said.

"He will" Hikari said.

"There's no way he would give up his last bit of light. He has Mikomi to look after"

They quickly ran towards the bailey to help their friends.

/

Leon and Mikomi attacked the heartless that were coming through the ravines.

"Stupid Heartless!" Mikomi cried as she stabbed one with her samurai sword.

"They spawn like rabbits"

"How about less talking and more fighting!" Yuffie cried.

Leon didn't say anything and just kicked one out of the way.

"Ni-san!" Hikari cried as they came closer.

"We'll help!" Sora shouted.

Aerith smiled at them, but gasped when she saw Nobodies appear behind them.

"Behind you!"

The group stopped and took care of the Nobodies.

"Why won't these things give up?" Hikari asked.

When they finished them off, they ran towards Leon and the others.

Hikari spotted Mikomi.

"Mikomi! We just saw Sephiroth!" she cried.

"I think he was going after Cloud!"

Mikomi paled and ran towards the Ravine for her brother.

Leon looked at his sister and her friends.

"The King's in the bailey" he said.

"You better get over there!"

"Got it!" Hikari cried.

Leon quickly ran after his friends to help them fend off the heartless.

The others ran towards the bailey and saw the damage the heartless did to the place.

One of the walls that protected the town was destroyed and revealed the ravines.

The group went closer to the damaged wall and saw the open area.

"Whoa" Sora said.

"How could something like this happen?" Hikari asked.

/

Off in the ravine, an army of heartless closed in on Hollow Bastion. There were so many of them, that they looked like a sea of black from a bird's eye point of view.

/

Yuffie and Aerith teamed up as they fought the heartless. Yuffie would fight while Aerith would heal her friend up.

Stitch, the alien fired off his Plasma guns and jumped all over the place. Every now and then, he would shot something in alien.

Yuna, Rikku and Paine teamed up and shoved the heartless off a cliff. They really couldn't do a lot due to their size, but at least they helped.

As for Leon and Cloud, the two friends stood back to back at the ravine trail with heartless surrounding them.

Leon just smirked as he held up his gun blade.

"Think you can handle this many?" he asked.

Cloud shrugged.

"Well…might be tough if one more shows up" he joked.

Leon snorted.

"Then that'll have to be the one that I take care of" he said.

Cloud just looked at him.

"What? You're fighting too?" he said sarcastically.

The two warriors didn't say anything for a moment, then suddenly flew off to different ends of the ravine and hacked away at the heartless.

Cloud managed to get through his group and headed towards an opening of the trail.

He gripped his sword when he saw surrounded by heartless.

He was about to attack, but the heartless were destroyed for him.

Cloud paled when he saw Sephiroth standing before him.

"Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth just smirked at him.

"I understand that you've been looking for me" he said.

Cloud glared at him and gripped his sword tightly.

"Yeah" he said.

"Once I get rid of you, the darkness will go away"

Sephiroth tilted his head.

"Can you do it?" he asked.

"That darkness come from your own dark memories. Do you think you can erase your past?"

Cloud growled.

"You don't know me!" he cried.

"Cloud!"

Cloud paled.

That was Tifa's voice.

He went to turn to her, but the light from her heart blinded him.

Sephiroth smirked darkly.

"I know, because I am you" he said.

"You flee from the present because the light is too strong for you"

Cloud didn't know what to say. He didn't want to believe that was true, but part of him was telling him that it was.

"Ni-san!"

Cloud's blood ran cold when he heard Mikomi's voice. He didn't want her to get involved with this.

Sephiroth laughed darkly.

"So your sister is still alive" he said.

"I guess I must have went easy on her when I slayed her last time"

He held up his long sword.

"Perhaps I should fix that"

Cloud panicked.

Even though he was acting distant towards his sister lately, there was no way that he would allow this monster to destroy the only family he had left.

He promised her that he would spend more time with her, but he couldn't with Sephiroth around.

He did the only thing that would keep his sister safe.

He ran.

Since Sephiroth was the darkness in his heart, that meant he would follow him wherever he went.

Sephiroth just smirked.

"Such a loyal brother" he muttered.

"He would rather suffer than see some random brat get killed"

He disappeared in a ball of light.

Tifa and Mikomi ran up to where Cloud was and saw him run off.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried.

"Wait!" Mikomi added.

They were about to run after him, but they were stopped by the heartless.

The two women teamed up and got rid of the heartless.

Tifa grabbed Mikomi's hand and ran towards where Cloud fled.

/

Sora and Hikari just couldn't stand it anymore and ran towards the Ravine.

Their friends needed their help and they were going to give it to them.

Just as they were about to reach the bottom, King Mickey appeared and stood in front of them.

"Okay fella!" he said.

"You go find Riku, Taiyouko and Kairi"

Hikari looked at the King's back.

Did he really think that was important right now.

"But Ni-san and the others need our help!" she said.

"Don't worry. There's already lots of help here" Mickey said.

"We'll take care of this fight"

"But we promise Leon" Sora said.

"Donald! Goofy!" Mickey said.

"Take Sora and Hikari and get out of here"

Donald and Goofy looked at their friends. They looked so torn. They wanted to help their friends out more than anything.

They both looked at each other and nodded.

"Your Majesty" Donald said.

"We understand" Goofy said.

"We'll go look for Riku and Kairi"

Sora and Hikari looked at them in disbelief.

Were they really going to follow their king's orders when their friends were in danger?

Donald gave them a look.

"Now you two, do as you're told" he said.

"You're coming with us whether you like it or not!" Goofy added.

They gave them a wink, showing that they needed to play along.

The keyblade master's smiled.

"Gotcha" Sora said.

"I guess we have no choice" Hikari added.

"Well then, skedaddle!" Goofy said.

Sora and Hikari mouthed 'thank you' to them before they looked at Mickey.

"Let's go!" Donald cried.

They ran past Mickey and headed down towards the Ravine.

Mickey was speechless and looked at them in utter shock.

"We're sorry, your Majesty" Sora said.

"Hope you can forgive us!" Goof said.

Mickey just watched as they ran off and smiled sadly.

/

"Hang on, Ni-san! We're coming!" Hikari cried.

They were just about to enter the ravine when a portal opened up in front of them.

Everyone skidded to a stop when they saw Demyx.

The nobody made a face when he saw how was in front of them and quickly plastered on a smile.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively" he said.

Everyone just pulled out their weapons in response.

"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld?" Sora asked.

"How's a wimp like you get into Organization Xlll?" Hikari added.

"I bet you can't even fight"

Demyx glared at them.

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance" he said.

He jumped when they aimed their weapons at him.

"I told them they were sending the wrong guy…" he muttered to himself.

Everyone just stared at him.

"Who is this kook?" Sora asked.

"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies" Goofy said.

"Right-no hearts" Hikari said.

Demyx faced them.

"Oh, we do have hearts" he said.

"Don't be mad…"

"You can't trick us!' Donald said.

Demyx sighed in annoyance and pointed at Sora and Hikari.

"Silence, traitors"

That threw the keyblade master's off.

"When did we ever betray you?" Hikari asked.

"We don't even know you"

Demyx summoned up his Sitar and created water clones of himself.

"Still not going to fight your own battles, huh?" Hikari asked.

Sora grabbed the nearest clone and used it as a whip to get rid of the other clones.

Demyx yelped and used his water to try to attack them.

Hikari used a fire spell to evaporate the water away.

"Is that the best you can do?" she asked.

"And I thought the Organization was to be feared"

Demyx just glared at them.

"Don't take me so lightly!" he cried.

He continued creating his water clones while he stayed back.

"I don't think so!" Sora cried.

Hikari destroyed the clones while Sora landed the finishing blow to Demyx.

The nobody let out a strangled cry as he vanished into dark water droplets.

Sora looked around the area.

"Anyone from the Organization who'd like to go next?" he called out.

Hikari hit him in the head.

"Don't antagonize them, you idiot" she said.

Sora laughed nervously.

"Sorry"

"Ah ha! So there you are"

Everyone turned around to see Mickey had followed them.

He looked angry as he walked over towards them.

Everyone hung their heads sadly, knowing they were about to get a lecture.

Mickey looked at them for a moment, before his features softened.

"You sure have lots of friends to help out" he said.

Everyone smiled, knowing that the king was going to let them go.

"So, we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!"

Everyone saluted their king.

"Yes, Your Majesty" they said.

Mickey nodded and started to lead the way.

Little did he know that one of the fights from above caused debris to fall towards them.

Goofy saw a rock headed towards the king and quickly pushed him out of the way.

"Look out!"

He got hit in the head with it and skidded across the ground.

"GOFFY!" Hikari screamed.

Everyone ran up to their fallen friend and saw that he wasn't moving.

Mickey was absolutely stunned by what happened.

"No…"

Hikari had tears in her eyes as she saw her closest friend out cold.

"Goofy" she chocked.

"This is not happening…it can't be happening…" Sora said in a shaky voice.

Donald started bawling on Goofy's chest.

Mickey clenched his fist tightly and looked towards the ravine.

"They're gonna pay" he said.

He ripped off his cloak to reveal his regular outfit and summoned his keyblade before running off.

Donald let out a frustrated cry and ran after the king with Sora following.

Hikari looked at them for a moment, then back at Goofy.

"I'm sorry, Goofy" she said.

She got up and ran after everyone.

/

Everyone got separated as they went up the ravine trail.

Hikari had her keyblade out as she ran.

"Hang on everyone!"

She skidded to a stop when heartless blocked her path.

Hikari gulped as she aimed her keyblade at them.

She never really fought with a bunch of heartless on her own, but she didn't have time to complain.

Just then, Yuffie jumped from above and held her giant ninja star out.

"I can help!" she cried.

Hikari smiled and teamed up with Yuffie to get rid of the heartless.

"No you don't!" Yuffie cried as she zipped through them.

When they got rid of them, Yuffie pushed her along.

"Get going!" she said.

Hikari ran off and continued on.

She was still upset that she left Goofy behind, but there was nothing that she could do now.

"Goofy" she said.

As she was running, she tripped on a lose piece of rock and skidded across the ground.

Hikari gasped when she saw Heartless about to jump her, but they were slashed away by Leon's Gunblade.

"Keep your hands off her!" he growled.

Hikari quickly got up and helped her brother get rid of the heartless.

When more started to show, Leon pushed her forward.

"Go!" he cried.

Hikari nodded and continued running.

When she made it towards one of the openings of the trail, heartless appeared.

Tifa ran up to her and got into a fighting stance.

"I'll help" she said.

Even though she didn't look it, Tifa was really strong as was able to lift up the tougher heartless before spiking them down.

When the path was cleared, Tifa pushed her along.

"Hurry! Go on ahead!"

Hikari continued to run.

"I hope the others are ok"

She was stopped yet again by another group of heartless, only this time Mikomi came to help.

"Let's get this party started!"

Hikari watched as Mikomi slashed through the heartless with her samurai sword.

The ninja was lighting fast and hacked through her enemy as if they were butter.

When the path was cleared, she gave Hikari a thumbs up.

"Go get 'em tiger!"

Hikari ran towards the crystal cave that was at the end of the ravine.

"Almost there!"

She was stopped yet again by the heartless.

"Not again!"

Cloud dove from the ledge above and slammed his sword into a heartless.

"Hikari" he said.

He held get rid of the tougher heartless using that giant sword of his.

When heartless were gone, Cloud jumped high and headed towards where the others were.

Hikari quickly ran into the cave before the heartless decided to show up.

/

Sora and the others were already there when she entered it.

They looked relieved when they saw she was alright.

"Are you okay?" Mickey asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but…"

Everyone sadly looked at the ground, knowing Goofy wasn't with them.

"Hey, fella!"

Everyone gasped when they saw Goofy running towards them.

"Goofy!" they cried.

Hikari had tears in her eyes as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

Goofy rubbed his head when she let go.

"Ya know. That really hurt" he said.

Mickey hugged Goofy as well.

"Aw, Goofy" he said.

Goofy chuckled.

"Gawrsh, your Majesty, I get bumped on the head all the time" he said.

Donald went up to him and bashed him with his staff.

"Don't you ever do that again!" he cried.

Everyone basked in this moment before they looked at the opening of the cave.

The danger was still not over yet.

They still had a job to finish.

/

As they reached the ravine, they saw the whole place was surrounded by heartless.

That was scary in itself, but what threw them all off was that just stood there.

"What's wrong with them?" Sora asked.

Goofy pointed up towards the cliffs.

"Hey!"

A portal opened up to reveal an Organization member.

The man pulled his hood back to reveal to be Xemnas.

Hikari couldn't see his face clearly because of how far he was, but she could make out his silver hair.

"It's the guy who's NOT Ansem" Donald cried.

"You mean it's his nobody" Goofy said.

"The leader of Organization Xlll" Sora said.

Mickey gasped when he saw him.

"Wait a minute! Now I know"

/

_Mickey stood before Ansem the Wise in his study._

"_Wise Ansem. I'm here to seek your advice"_

_Ansem the Wise sat behind his desk while eating some ice cream._

"_I'm glad we have the opportunity to speak like this, my friend" he said._

"_I'm intrigued by your hypothesis…and I'm finding it difficult to stave off the urge to test it. Still, I'm concerned about the stability of the worlds"_

_Mickey looked at him sadly._

"_Yep, that's what worries me too" he said._

"_The doors that appeared" Ansem said._

"_The place the heartless seek. I fear my research may have brought this upon us…"_

_Just then, a knock at the door startled them._

_A man wearing lab coat entered the room and bowed to them._

"_Master Ansem" he said._

"_Regarding the experiment I presented the other day…with your permission, I'd like to proceed"_

_Ansem stood up from his seat._

"_I forbid it!" he cried._

"_Forget this talk of doors, and the heart of all worlds. That place must not be defiled"_

_The apprentice looked surprised._

"_But Master Ansem" he said._

"_I've been thinking…"_

_Ansem just shook his head._

"_Xehanort…those thoughts are best left forgotten" he said._

_Xehanort was about to protest, but admitted defeat and bowed to his master._

_When he stood up properly, his eyes landed on Mickey._

_The king wouldn't encounter this man again until he plunged to worlds in darkness and brought ruin to everyone._

/

"Now I remember!" Mickey cried.

"Xehanort! Ansem's apprentice. The leader of Organization Xlll is Xehanort's nobody"

Xemnas seemed to smile darkly at them, as if he heard everything.

Mickey pulled out his keyblade and ran towards where Xemnas was.

"Let's go!" Sora cried.

They were about to follow the king, but they were blocked by the heartless.

"Movie it!" Hikari cried.

"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Donald shouted.

Sora and Hikari looked at their comrades and saw them give thumbs up before running off.

They did the same and ran off in the opposite directions to defeat the heartless.

/

Thousands of heartless surrounded Hikari as she got separated from her friends.

"I don't have time for the likes of you!" she cried.

She charged at the heartless and hacked away at them.

She lost count of how many she defeated, but she knew she was over the double digit number.

She used her magic to make things go quicker and zapped at the heartless.

"Don't mess with a sorceress of light!" she cried.

When got rid of nearly a thousand heartless, she did a victory cheer.

"I did it!"

However, that was short lived since she suddenly coughed up the black substance again. It wasn't as much as when she did it the first time, but it was enough to make her spit out across the ground.

Hikari gripped her heart as she wiped the sludge away.

"That can't be good" she said.

She didn't mull it over since her friends were waiting for her, so she ran off to catch up with everyone.

/

Everyone caught up with each other when they got rid of the heartless.

Sora looked around.

"Where's the king?" he asked.

They looked up ahead to see him slaying a heartless.

"There he is!" Donald cried.

They quickly ran after him as he closed in on Xemnas.

They didn't realize that they were in for a rude awakening just then.

/

**A/N: And there you have it! Next chapter, Hikari's life spins for the worst. Just what will Xemnas say that will make her heart shatter?**

**You'll have to review to find out! **

**Ja ne!**


	26. The Horrifying Truth

Chapter 26: The Horrifying Truth

**A/N: Oh my god! I did not expect to get over 200 reviews for this story! This is way more than what I expected! Thank you so much everyone!**

**Since you're all dying to find out who Hikari's father is, I've decided to pull back the veil and reveal him.**

**Most of you already figured it out by now, but for those who didn't SURPRISE!**

**Hope this is to your liking and that you don't hate me after this!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Mickey stood before Xemnas as he looked out at the ravine.

After years of not seeing him, it felt strange to be facing the man who caused all of this nonsense.

This man was the one who plunged the worlds into darkness and yet he looked so calm about it.

He really didn't have a heart.

He gripped his keyblade tightly as he faced the leader of Organization Xlll.

"Xehanort!" he called.

Xemnas just looked up at the sky.

"How long has it been since I abandoned that name?" he asked himself.

Sora and the others quickly ran up to Mickey.

"Your Majesty!"

Sora and Hikari glared at the nobody.

Since they were facing the leader of the Organization, then surely he knew where their lost comrades were.

"Out with it Nobody!" Sora cried

"Where's Kairi?"

"Where's Riku and my mother, Taiyouko?" Hikari asked.

Xemnas chuckled darkly.

"I know nothing of any Kairi" he said.

"As for Riku and your mother, perhaps you should ask your king?"

Hikari growled and aimed her keyblade at him.

"Don't dodge our questions!" she barked.

"Tell us where they are now!"

Xemnas still kept his back towards them, but smirked darkly.

"You haven't changed at bit, Hikari" he said.

"Even as a little girl, you would always act so rash"

Hikari was surprised.

How did he know her name and why did he act like he knew her?

Sora looked at her.

"Do you know this guy?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"Why would I know someone who plunged worlds into darkness and created the heartless"

Xemnas peered over his shoulder at them but had his hair covered his face.

"I'm hurt" he said.

"Has your memory been damaged so bad that you can't remember ME of all people? What would your mother say if she saw this?"

Hikari glared darkly when her mother was mentioned.

"Keep my mother out of this you creep! She has nothing to do with this!"

Xemnas just shook his head.

"You can be so naïve" he muttered.

"You don't even know how deep her connection is with everything"

Hikari just gripped her keyblade to the point that her hand turned white.

"_What the heck am I doing?" _she thought.

"_The leader of the Organization is standing right in front of me with his back turned. This is the perfect chance to attack him!"_

She charged at Xemnas with her keyblade held out.

"Hikari! No!" Mickey cried.

Hikari didn't listen to him and just ran at Xemnas.

"Die! Nobody!"

Xemnas just smirked and turned around.

When Hikari saw his face, her mind suddenly went blank and reeled back to her memories of her father.

/

_Hikari ran down one of the hallways for the castle as she tried to catch up to the man wearing a white lab coat._

"_Daddy!"_

_The man turned around and smiled when he saw his daughter running towards her._

_He knelt down so she would run into his arms._

_As he did, the mist that obscured his face suddenly disappeared to reveal to be Xehanort._

_He wore a small smile on his face as he held Hikari close to her._

"_My little princess" he said._

/

Hikari gasped in horror as she recalled the memory.

Xemnas smirked darkly, knowing that she remembered and kicked her out of the way.

She went flying and skidded back towards her friends.

"Hikari!" Sora cried.

He along with Mickey, Donald and Goofy ran up to her.

Hikari held her side painfully.

Her mind seemed t shut down as she looked at the Nobody before her.

She didn't notice that Sora helped her up or that Mickey was standing in front of her.

The only thing that she did notice was that she was looking at her father.

Xemnas gave her a dark, evil grin.

"Now where are your manners, young lady?" he asked in a scolding manner.

"Is that any way to treat your own father when you haven't seen him in such a long time?"

Now it was everyone's turn to gasp in horror.

After hearing so much about Hikari's father, they came to the realization that their enemy was him.

Sora shook his head in disbelief.

"N-no way" he said in a shaky voice.

"T-there's just no way that you're her father"

Xemnas just looked at him with a calm expression.

"If you don't believe me, then why not ask your king?" he asked.

"I'm sure he would be more than willing to tell you"

Mickey looked at the ground in shame.

Hikari was shaking like a leaf at this point.

The fact that she realize that their enemy was her father and that she held connections to this monster shook her to the core.

It was like she just stepped into a horrible dream and there was no way to wake up from this.

So many thoughts ran through her brain at this notion.

Why didn't she realize it sooner? Why couldn't she remember him before? And most of all: why didn't Taiyouko tell her?

The thought that her mother fell in love with this Nobody made her sick to her stomach.

This man brought her world to its destruction as well as many others. He used Riku as his new host so he could open the final door.

He sacrificed his own daughter just so he could open the door to darkness.

Xemnas just watched her as she shook.

"It seems that your starting to remember everything" he said.

"Tell me, how does it feel knowing that this whole time you've been trying to defeat your own family? How does it feel to know that your own mother kept this from you? Is it agonizing? Does it make your heart ache?"

He placed his hand where his heart once stood.

"My poor little princess" he said dramatically.

"You've been following orders to destroy the enemy and you didn't even know who it was. Just like a naïve, obedient dog"

Hikari held herself tightly.

Was that true?

All this time she was told to defeat the enemy without anyone telling her who it was? Was she just being used this whole time?

Xemnas chuckled knowing that his words were starting to break her down.

He held out his arms, as if trying to make himself vulnerable.

"It just breaks my 'heart' seeing my poor daughter so torn up" he said.

"Since I don't want to see you miserable, I'll give you the chance to strike me down"

Hikari just looked at him.

Xemnas smirked.

"But let me ask you this: can you go through with it? Can you really kill your own father? After all I've done for you, can you really defeat me all because of your duties as a keyblade master?"

Hikari didn't know what to say or do.

Could she really do it? Could she kill her own father?

She was given the chance to defeat their enemy, so she knew this was the correct thing to do. But when she remembered all the times she spent with her father as a child, she couldn't help but feel torn.

The father from her memories always loved her and treated her like a princess. There was just no way that this nobody could be that same person.

Even if she tried to deny it, she knew this was her father's nobody.

She knew that she couldn't defeat him.

Xemnas just laughed when he saw that his daughter wasn't going to do anything.

He opened up a portal behind him.

"I'll give you time to think it over" he said.

"Who should you believe and what orders should you follow. When you find the answers, I'll know you'll find me"

He placed his hand over his chest.

"Just remember that daddy will always love you"

With that, he stepped back into the portal.

Mickey snapped his head up and glared at the portal.

"Stop!"

He ran after it and jumped into the portal just as it was about to close.

Sora was numb as he started as where Xemnas once stood.

The fact that their enemy was Hikari's father shook him to the core.

He felt so horrible about this. He couldn't even imagine what Hikari was feeling at this point.

He looked at her to see that she was still sitting on the ground while holding herself.

"Hikari?" he asked quietly.

Hikari didn't answer him.

Her mind was elsewhere as she looked at the ground.

Tears simply poured down her face as reality hit her in the face.

Xehanort…Xemnas was her father.

/

**A/N: Sorry if this seemed short and a little rushed. I was really nervous and giddy at the same time as I wrote this. **

**I hope this was to your liking. I know I've just made Hikari's problems a lot worse, but she's a trooper so she'll think of something. Realizing your father is the enemy must really suck.**

**Please review and tell me what you think and don't hate me for this!**

**Ja ne**


	27. What are we fighting for?

Chapter 27: What are we fighting for?

**A/N: I'm really surprised by how all of you were excited to find out that Xemnas was Hikari's father. Half of you were confused, but that's to be expected. Fear not, there's more to this story, but you'll just have to wait a little bit longer. Since my finals are finally over, I decided to update as a little holiday treat.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my Oc's.**

**Happy Holidays!**

/

Hikari started off into space. Her body was numb from show and she was shaking like a leaf.

Her mind kept spinning over the memories that she just remembered.

Xemnas was her father.

This had to be a nightmare. It was like she just stepped into a horror film and she couldn't get out of it. No matter how much she wanted to deny what she saw and heard, she knew it was true.

The man that had put the worlds into chaos. The man who used Riku as his little puppet. The man that tormented her mother about opening the door to darkness….the man who sacrificed his only daughter to achieve his goal. This same person whose blood ran through her veins was her enemy.

She closed her eyes tightly when she felt tears falling.

So many things rang in her head, but only one of them screamed the loudest.

"_Why didn't you tell me mom?"_

Why did her mother; the woman who she looked up to, keep this from her? Why didn't Leon tell her? Was she supposed to blindly destroy the heartless without even knowing that her own parent was behind all of this?

Her hand dug into the ground as she wallowed in her own misery.

Now that she knew who her real enemy was, she didn't know how she was going to go on.

Sora knelt next to Hikari and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

He was still shaking as well from the news. He couldn't even imagine what Hikari was feeling. If he just found out that his father was the one who was behind all of this madness, he would have lost it as well.

He was amazed that Hikari wasn't screaming or trying to deny it. It just showed how strong her heart really was.

Donald and Goofy looked at them sadly. They didn't know what to say to all of this, so they just stayed quiet.

"Hikari...Sora" Donald said quietly.

They were started when they heard someone talking.

"Way to fall right into their trap"

They all turned around to see Axel.

The red head wore a grim expression on his face as he looked at the other half of his friends. Even though it had been a year since he saw them in Castle Oblivion, he knew this would be their first time seeing him since they had their memory fixed.

He bit the inside of his mouth as he looked at them. It tore him up to see how much they looked like Roxas and Ankoku. It just wasn't fair that they had to disappear just so these brats could return.

Sora slowly stood up and helped Hikari up as they saw Axel.

The red head pushed off from his leaning position and started walking towards them. He had a slight limp from Tsukiko. After she found out what he was going to do with Kairi she nearly beat him within an inch of his life. He sent her back to Twilight Town so he could try to fix this mess that he made, but really didn't make any progress.

"C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization Xlll" he said.

"Xemnas is using you to destroy the heartless-that's his big master plan"

Donald raised an eyebrow.

"Xemnas?" he asked.

"The guy you just saw. He's their leader" Axel said.

"X-E-M-N-A-S. Got it memorized?"

Hikari's heart sank even further.

So her own father was using to reach his goal as well?

"The Organization wants to get rid of the heartless?" Goofy asked.

Axel rolled his eyes.

"Man, you're slow" he said.

He pointed to Sora and Hikari's keyblades.

"Every heartless slain by those keyblades release a captive heart" he explained.

"That is what the Organization is after"

Hikari looked at him wearily.

"So what are they going to with the hearts?" she asked.

She had to know what her father was after. She had to know why she was being used.

"I'm not telling" Axel scoffed.

"Tell us!" Donald barked.

It suddenly dawned on Sora who this guy really was. After hearing the way he talked and the way he looked, he knew who this nobody was.

"You…you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!"

Hikari gasped.

All her thoughts about her father flew out the window as she looked at the man who kidnapped her best friend.

Axel smirked darkly.

"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Sora looked torn. Now that he knew who kidnapped Kairi, he had to know where she was.

"Where is Kairi?" he asked.

Axel's smile vanished and was replaced with a frown. He rubbed his head in a nervous manner.

"Please. Just tell me!" Sora pleaded.

Axel sighed.

"Look, about Kairi…I'm sorry" he said.

"Axel!"

A portal appeared to reveal Saix.

The second in command didn't look pleased when he saw the red head.

"Uh-oh!" Axel cried.

He quickly went through a portal and headed back to Twilight Town. Even though he knew Tsukiko was pissed off with him, he couldn't afford her getting hurt.

Sora and Hikari went to run after him, but Saix stopped them.

"We'll ensure he receives the maximum punishment" he said.

Sora and Hikari just glared at him.

"We don't care about that!" Hikari snapped.

"Just let us into the realm of darkness, okay?" Sora pleaded.

He just had to get Kairi back.

Saix looked at them.

"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't" he said.

"We're taking good care of her"

Hikari glared at him.

She seriously doubted that. If her father was the leader of the Organization, she doubted the rest of the Organization was filled with hospitality.

"Take me to her" Sora pleaded.

"Is she that important to you?" Saix asked.

"Yeah. More than anything" Sora said.

Saix smirked darkly.

"Show me how important"

Sora looked at the ground for a moment before swiftly falling to his knees and bowing to the Nobody.

Donald and Goofy were surprised, but Hikari looked at him with pity. She knew that she would do the same if it came to Riku. She didn't care what she had to do to find him, just as long as she could be back in his arms.

"So you really do care for her" Saix said.

"In that case-the answer is no"

Sora shot up and glared darkly at the Nobody.

"You rotten…!"

Hikari gripped her keyblade and pointed it at Saix.

The Nobody just smirked.

"Are you angry? Do you hate me?" he goaded.

"Then take that rage, and direct it at the heartless"

He snapped his fingers and had heartless appear.

"Pitiful heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the keyblades releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free…until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist"

"_What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?"_

Maleficent suddenly appeared before them.

"Kingdom Hearts belongs to me!" she declared.

"The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY dominion!"

Hikari looked at her mother's sworn enemy with a pleading look. She couldn't deal fighting with her and a member of the Organization at the same time.

"Maleficent, no!" she pleaded.

"No more heartless!"

Maleficent glared at her.

"I do not take orders from you!" she barked.

She summoned up her heartless and had them surround Saix.

"Fool" the Nobody muttered.

He snapped his fingers and had nobodies come to destroy them.

When the heartless were gone, the nobodies turned on our heroes.

"Oh no!" Sora cried.

They braced themselves to fight, but gasped when Maleficent suddenly stood in front of them.

She created a wall of fire that separated them from the nobodies.

"While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them-forever!" the evil sorceress said.

Hikari looked at her in shock.

She was helping them, even though they considered each other as enemies.

"Maleficent" she said weakly.

She watched as Nobodies attached themselves to her.

"Do no misunderstand me" Maleficent said.

"I shall have my revenge on you yet"

She peered over her shoulder to look at the daughter of her sworn enemy.

"What happened to that backbone you once carried?" she asked.

"You're mother put up a better fight when she troubled"

The nobodies piled on top of her to the point she couldn't hold them off any longer.

"Maleficent!"

"Leave! Now!" Maleficent cried.

"We don't take orders from you!" Sora barked.

They watched as the evil sorceress burst the nobodies and herself into green flames.

"Now then" Saix said.

"Where did we leave off?"

He snapped his fingers and had the nobodies be replaced with heartless.

"Which side are you guys on, anyway?" Sora snapped.

"The heartless will ally with whoever's the strongest" Saix said.

Sora and Hikari slashed at the heartless that came to them.

Saix smirked darkly when he saw the hearts float up in the sky.

"That's right" he said.

"Extract more hearts"

With that, he left them to defeat the heartless.

Everyone backed up with each other when the heartless closed in on them.

Sora and Hikari looked up at the sky sadly to see the hearts vanish. It was their fault that they were returning to Kingdom Hearts.

Hikari gripped her keyblade tightly as she watched as the heartless closed in on them.

She didn't know what to do anymore. After finding out that Xemnas was her father and that he was using her to create Kingdom Hearts, she just didn't know what to do anymore.

"Maybe everything we've done…maybe it was all for nothing" she said.

Nobody fought them off. They just blocked them so they wouldn't have to release their hearts.

"What are we suppose to do if we can't use the keyblades?"

"_Imbeciles!" _Maleficent cried.

"_You can't be trusted to do anything!"_

A portal opened up beneath them and dropped them into a realm of darkness.

/

Darkness was all that Hikari could see when she landed out of the portal.

She looked around to see where the others were, but couldn't find them.

"Sora? Donald? Goofy?"

She got no response. The only thing she heard was her echo.

She held herself tightly as she looked around.

Her fear of the darkness overpowered her and made her start to panic.

Everything was crumbling around her.

Her memories were showing her a past that she was better off not knowing. Her father was the mad man behind all of the chaos that was brewing. She was being used to create Kingdom Hearts. And what was worse was that her mother lied to her and kept her origins a secret to her.

She frantically looked around her to see if she could find anything in this darkness.

She wanted to get away from here. She wanted to get away from her past.

She walked around frantically, as if that was the only way to run from her problems.

"Everything is collapsing around me" she said.

"Everything that I knew was all a lie. My dad is a monster. My existence has been nothing but a shame. My mother lied to me"

A tear ran down her face.

"I don't know what to believe in anymore. I don't know who to believe"

She looked around desperately for her friends.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! Where are you?"

Anxiety was starting to get the best of her and she started to panic.

Her fear of the darkness over took her and made her fall to her knees.

She closed her eyes tightly and let out a wailing scream.

She held her head as she cried.

"Help!" she pleaded.

"Somebody, anybody, please help me"

She cried into her hands as she shook.

She felt so helpless and alone. She didn't know what to do. All she knew was that she wanted someone to pull her out of her despair.

She cried out when she felt someone pull her into a tight embrace. She couldn't open her eyes out of fear of who she might see, but she didn't try to pull away. It was as if she knew she would be alright with this person.

The person ran a hand through her hair as she cried on their chest.

"It's ok" the person said. It was a male.

"Don't be scared. No matter what happens, I'll be there to save you from the deepest darkness. You always have and always will be my light"

Hikari couldn't help but smile at this man's words.

She didn't know why, but she felt like she knew this person. It was as if she was supposed to see him.

"Hikari!"

The person let her go and vanished.

Hikari opened her eyes and saw Sora, Donald and Goofy running towards her.

Sora skidded on his knees when he got close to her.

He held her shoulders while he looked at her with worry.

"Are you ok? We heard you scream and came running"

Hikari nodded.

"I'm fine. Just scared" she said.

She allowed Sora to help her up and gripped his arm tightly.

They looked around to see nothing but darkness.

"Where are we?" Hikari asked.

"This must be the realm of darkness" Sora said.

Everyone huddled closer to prevent themselves from being separated.

Donald spotted someone standing within the darkness holding a box.

"Who's there?"

Donald ran towards the person, but they disappeared, leaving the box behind.

Everyone gathered around the box as Donald picked it up.

"What is it?" the mage asked.

He opened it up to reveal a bar of ice cream and a picture inside.

Donald picked up the photo and handed it to Sora.

It was a picture of Hayner and the gang, however two other individuals were with the group.

Little did Sora and Hikari know that those people were their nobodies.

"Hey! It's the gang from Twilight Town!" Goofy said.

"There's Hayner, Pence, Olette, and um..uh…I don't really know the other two"

"Roxas" Sora suddenly said.

"You know him?" Donald asked.

Sora shook his head.

"No. The name just popped into my head. This is Roxas"

"And that's Ankoku" Hikari said.

As she looked at Ankoku's face, she couldn't help but feel like she knew her.

"It's funny. I know I've never seen her, but it feels like I've known her all my life. Strange"

Donald looked at the ice cream that he held into his hand and licked his lips.

Goofy looked at his friend with worry.

"Are you sure you want to eat…"

Donald stuck the ice cream in his mouth.

"…that?" Goofy finished.

Donald pulled the ice cream out and mulled over the taste.

"Salty…no…sweet!"

Just then, the ice cream glowed and floated out of Donald's hand.

Sora and Hikari pulled out their keyblades and sealed the keyhole to this realm of darkness.

Sora looked determined when he put his keyblade away.

"Not yet. I gotta look for Kairi" he said.

He looked at Hikari to see she still worn a torn expression on her face.

He understood that she was still horrified about everything that she found out, but he knew that she couldn't give up just yet.

He gripped her hand tightly.

"And you shouldn't either" he said.

"You still have to look for Riku and your mom"

Hikari gave him a sad smile.

"I know…but…"

"No excuses!" Sora cried.

"What happened to the determined Hikari that I've known all my life? Don't let what you find out effect you so greatly. Use that to motivate you to move forward. You've come too far to quit now"

Hikari's eyes widen slightly when she heard her catch phrased be used on her.

The only thing she could do was nod her head.

Sora smiled.

"Great. Now let's get out of here"

With that, they were engulfed by light and were sent back to the Gummi ship.

As Hikari was being sent back to the ship, she could have sworn she heard someone talking in her head.

She would never know that it was Ankoku.

"_**Don't worry" **_she said.

"_**Even if the world crumbles around you and drops you into a world of nothingness, HE will always be there to pick you again"**_

Hikari couldn't help but smile at those world.

/

Back at Hollow Bastion, Leon and Cloud stood near the Ravine Trail.

The heartless threat was gone thanks to Sora and Hikari.

Leon gasped when he saw a light erupt near the caverns. His mind suddenly went to Hikari.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" he cried.

"Hikari!"

"Relax" Cloud said calmly.

"Those four aren't going down so easily"

He turned around and decided to check on his own sister.

"The keyblades chosen ones…" he muttered.

"They're lucky kids"

Leon looked back at the light and watched as it shot up in the sky.

He smiled weakly.

"See you soon" he said.

He griped the bracelet that he and Hikari shared.

"And please be safe"

/

**A/N: I'm sure you can all figure out who that person was and who Ankoku was talking about. Sorry if this chapter was confusing; I had a hard time trying to write this out. Now part two of the story begins!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	28. Land of Dragons part 2

Chapter 28: Land of Dragons part 2

**A/N: Here we are with part 2! That means we're getting closer to the ending! Sad, but I'm sure you're all waiting for it. **

**I know Hikari was really out of character in the last chapter, but if you found out that your dad was really Mansex, I'm sure you would be out of it too. Hopefully, I'll keep her back in character with this chapter. She may seem out of it, but I'm sure you all know what she's going through.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone got in their proper seats when they arrived on the Gummi Ship.

Goofy held up the picture of Hayner and the gang. They didn't know why someone would want to give them a photo and some ice cream, but they figured that they had to be important.

"A photo and some ice cream" Goofy muttered.

"Wonder if they're some sorta clue? And who woulda left 'em for us, anyway?"

Sora looked his friends hopefully.

"Riku?"

"Ya think?" Goofy asked.

Sora shrugged.

"Just this feeling I've got" he said.

He looked at Hikari.

"How about you, Hikari. Did you feel that too?"

Hikari curled herself into a ball when she heard his name. Not only did she just realize that her father was the leader of the Organization, she still hadn't found Riku or her mom yet.

She buried her head into her knees in a depressing manner.

Sora looked at her sadly and told Donald to steer the ship.

He went over to his friend's seat and gave her knee a squeeze.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I thought you would be happy to hear about him?"

Hikari looked up at him sadly.

"What's wrong?" she repeated.

"I just found out that my dad is the leader of Organization Xlll and that he was the mastermind behind all of this chaos. Not only that, but my mom never told me when I last saw her and left me to take care of this mess without even telling me what was going on"

She buried her face back in her knees.

"And now that I know what we're fighting…I just don't know if I have the guts to go through" she said quietly.

"Can I really kill my dad? Do I have the heart to do it?"

A tear ran down her face.

"The dad from my memories was always kind and loving. He thought of me as his little princess" she said.

"But the man that I just saw was completely different. I keep telling myself that this isn't the same person…but my heart tells me that it's true"

She shook her head.

"Why did my dad have to be my enemy?"

Sora wiped the tear that feel from her face.

He really didn't know what to say or do. He had never been in this type of situation. If he found out that his dad was his enemy, he was sure that he would be lost and confused.

It made him wonder what Riku would say if he was here. He could always cheer Hikari up.

A light bulb went off in his head as he suddenly thought of something.

"Can you really consider him as your dad after everything he's done to you?" he asked.

Hikari looked at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Sora looked at her seriously.

"Think about it. He betrayed your mom. He tricked Leon. He sacrificed yours and Kairi's hearts so he could open the final door. He possessed Riku for his new body. He created the heartless and brought ruin to many worlds. And he's using the nobodies to obtain his goals. That doesn't sounds like the 'parent of the year' award if you ask me"

He griped her hand tightly.

"After hearing that, are you really going to let him live? He may be your father, but he's just an empty shell of what he once was"

Hikari looked down at Sora's hand.

Now that he mentioned it, he did have a point.

Ansem – Xemnas turned not only her life, but her mother and brother's lives into a living hell. He used them and betrayed them in the most foulest way.

Not only that, but he almost killed the one that she loved most.

She suddenly looked determined at Sora.

"He won't get away with this" she said.

Sora smiled.

"There's the Hikari I know so well" he said.

Hikari smiled, but it faltered slightly.

"But…do I really have what it takes to defeat my dad?" she asked.

"After all…he did raise me. I'm sure he might use that against me"

Sora rolled his eyes.

"Hikari. Ever since you started regaining your memories, the only person you ever mentioned about was Leon" he said.

"It was always 'Ni-san did this' and 'Ni-san did that' or 'Ni-san was the only father figure I've ever had in my life'. As far as I'm concerned, Leon is your father. Just because he's your older brother doesn't mean he can't be your parent. It all depends on how they raise you and treat you while growing up"

He patted her hand and headed towards his seat.

"Think about. I'm sure you'll agree with me"

Hikari looked at her lap when she was by herself.

Now that Sora mentioned it, she did remember Leon taking care of her more than she remembered her dad did.

/

_Hikari and Leon laughed as they ran around the front yard of their home._

"_You can't catch me, Hikari!" Leon called._

_Hikari's face was flushed from laughing so much._

"_You're so fast, Ni-san!"_

_She started catching up to him and went to grab his shirt. As she did, her foot caught on a loose rock and caused her to fall flat on her face._

_Leon gasped and ran over to her._

"_Hikari! Are you ok?"_

_Hikari slowly got up and sniffled. Tears pooled her eyes and she looked at her scrapped knees._

_Leon carefully picked her up and held her close._

"_It's ok, Hikari" he said._

_Hikari just whimpered as she burred her face him his shirt._

_Leon kissed her on the forehead and carried her inside._

"_Don't worry, Hikari. I'll always take care of you"_

/

_Hikari pouted as she sat at the kitchen table on Traverse Town._

_Leon wore a stern look as he saw his sister push her plate away._

"_Hikari, eat your vegetables" he said._

_Hikari crossed her arms and shook her head._

"_No!" she said._

_Leon's eye twitched in annoyance._

"_You're not leaving the table until you do" he said._

"_We don't waste food"_

_He picked up a forkful of green beans and held them out to her._

"_Now eat. It's good for you"_

_Hikari made a face and looked away._

"_Yuck!"_

_Leon sighed and held the bridge of his nose. Now it was no more Mr. Nice Guy._

"_Either you eat your veggies or you have Cid's Bellyful Stew. Take your pick"_

_Hikari's eyes widen in horror. She knew that whenever Cid made his bellyful stew, he just dumped everything from his fridge and put it into a pot._

_Grabbing the fork, she shoved the green beans in her mouth._

_She made a face as she swallowed the nasty vegetable down._

_Leon smirked and patted her head._

"_Good girl" he said._

"_You need to eat your veggies so you can become big and strong"_

_Hikari just made a face as she ate the rest of her green beans._

/

_Leon was sleeping in his bed soundly when his door opened._

_His eyes scrunched when the light hit his face. _

_He cracked his eyes open to see Hikari standing near the doorway, holding her teddy bear._

_He sat up and looked at his sister._

"_What's wrong, Hikari?"_

_Hikari held her teddy bear tightly._

"_I had a bad dream" she said._

"_Can I stay with you for tonight?"_

_Leon wore a sympathetic look and nodded._

_Hikari smiled and quickly climbed into bed with him._

_Once they were settled, Leon held Hikari close to him so she would feel safe._

"_Ni-san" Hikari said quietly._

"_Hmm?" Leon asked._

"_I miss mommy"_

_Leon sighed and ran a hand through Hikari's hair._

"_I know, me too" he said._

"_But don't worry. I'll be here to protect you until we see her again. You're safe with me"_

_Hikari looked up at him._

"_Promise?" _

_Leon nodded._

"_I promise"_

/

Hikari smiled fondly at the memories.

Sora was right. Even though Xemnas was her father, Leon was the one who raised her and took care of her.

After knowing about that little detail, it made the task of defeating Xemnas a little easier.

"Thanks, Sora" she said quietly.

"_And thanks, Ni-san" _she thought.

"We're almost at our destination" Donald said.

Sora sighed.

"Hey, what if the heartless are back again?" he asked.

"Hikari and I can't use the keyblades- that would only help the Organization"

Hikari sweat dropped at that.

She almost forgot about that. She was so upset about learning who her father was that she forgot that they were practically helping them by defeating the heartless.

This was a real predicament.

"But I think you and Hikari have to do it" Goofy said.

"If we don't fight them, the heartless'll keep hurtin' folks"

Hikari smiled weakly.

He did have a point. It was their duty to make sure the heartless were destroyed in the first place.

"I guess there's no other way around it" she said.

"We'll just have to do what we do best"

Sora nodded.

"I guess you're right" he said.

Donald steered the Gummi Ship towards the Land of Dragons, where their friends were surly at.

/

They all landed at the dilapidated town. Everything was still the same as it was before. The buildings were still burnt down and a hint of smoke was still in the air.

Hikari rubbed her arms as the wind blew past them.

"I'm glad to see the weather hasn't changed" she said sarcastically.

They walked through the dilapidated village.

"I wonder how everybody's doing?" Goofy asked.

Donald looked around the village for a second before his eyes caught something at the base of the mountain.

"Look!"

Everyone looked over and saw a figure wearing an Organization cloak.

Hikari's eyes harden with anger.

"The Organization" she hissed.

The figured must have heard her because they turned around to see them before quickly running up towards the mountain.

"Wait!" Sora cried.

"Sora! Hikari!"

Everyone turned around to see Mulan running towards them.

"Hi, Mulan" Hikari said.

"No time to talk. We gotta catch that guy"

Mulan looked at them seriously.

"I'm following him, too" she said.

"Then let's go together" Donald said.

They got through the brunt down village and headed up towards the slope.

/

While they were walking up the slope, Mulan spotted the Organization member running towards the summit.

"Let's hurry!" Sora ordered.

They quickly ran up the summit so they could corner their target. However, when they got there, there was no one in sight.

"Looks like he got away" Mulan said.

Hikari stomped her foot in the ground. Since she knew that Xemnas was in charge of the Organization, she wanted to squeeze out as much information out of them as she could. She wanted to know what purpose did she play in their plans and if they knew her connection to their leader.

"How come you're after somebody from Organization Xlll?" Goofy asked.

"What is that?" Mulan asked.

"The guy in black" Sora said.

"One of the bad guys"

"I knew it!" Mulan said.

"There's a rumor in the Imperial City about a spy in black, lurking in the mountains. I'd been up here tracking him, but when you arrived, I lost him"

Goofy looked at her sadly.

"Sorry" he said.

Mulan smiled.

"Don't be" she said.

"But I do wonder where he went"

They heard something coming up from the summit. It was almost like the wind was howling, but at the same time it wasn't.

They peered up at the top and saw a group of heartless near the ridge.

Donald sighed.

"Again?"

Everyone quickly pulled out their weapons and went to go take care of the heartless.

Sora and Hikari were about to help, but they stopped when they sensed that someone was behind them.

They turned around and saw the Organization member standing behind them.

"Hey! You!" Sora cried.

"Stop sneaking around!"

The Organization member didn't say anything. He simply pointed behind them to reveal that a heartless went to attack them.

Sora slashed at it and glared at the man in black.

It seemed that not only would they have to fight them, but they had to get rid of the heartless as well.

Hikari gave the Organization member an icy glare.

"Sora" she said seriously.

"You take care of the heartless. He's mine"

Sora was about to protest, but when he saw the look in her eyes; he knew that she wasn't going to back down.

"Be careful" he said.

Hikari didn't say anything and just summoned her keyblade.

"You too" she said.

The keyblade masters ran off in opposite directions and went to go take care of their targets.

Hikari slammed her keyblade against the mysterious man's weapon. Her mind was clouded with so much anger that she didn't even realize that it was the Soul Eater.

There was so much hatred in her eyes as she looked at him. how could this person willingly work with her father? It made her sick to her stomach knowing how many people Xemnas tricked.

"Out with it Nobody!" she ordered.

"What is the Organization after? What do you know about my dad?"

The man didn't say anything and jumped back. It was as if he didn't want to fight her.

Hikari scoffed at that.

"What's the matter? Never seen a girl fight before?"

She summoned the Oblivion keyblade and gripped both keyblades tightly.

"Well let me show you the powers of a keyblade master"

She launched herself at him and didn't give him a chance to back away. Sparks flew as blades clashed with one another. It didn't matter to Hikari that her muscles were screaming in pain. All that mattered was that she needed to weed out all of Xemnas's lackeys and prevent him from reaching his goal.

As she slammed her keyblades down on the mysterious man's weapon, she finally noticed that it was the Soul Eater.

There was only one person she knew that would carry this weapon and it was the man that she was desperately trying to find.

She quickly looked up to his hooded face in hopes of seeing aquatic blue eyes.

"You're…"

The pain in her chest suddenly returned to her. She fell to her knees and started coughing the black substance up. It looked so foul looking as it was splattered all over the snow.

She was so caught up in her pain that she didn't noticed the mysterious man appeared slightly panicked.

"Hikari!"

Sora quickly ran up to her and skidded to his knees when he reached her.

He paled when he saw the black substance spewing out of Hikari's mouth.

"What is this stuff?" he asked.

Hikari couldn't say anything due to coughing. She only managed to get out a few words.

"Chest pain (cough)…gotten worse…"

Sora gulped slightly as he saw how bad his friends chest pain was getting. If she was coughing this stuff out then it must have been really bad.

He didn't know if giving her a potion would help her out with this.

He just felt so helpless right now. He promised Riku that he would protect Hikari, but how could he when he didn't even know how.

Just then, a potion bottled rolled near his feet. It looked different from the regular potion bottles since it contained a white liquid instead of a green one.

Sora picked it up and looked at the mysterious man.

He stood away from them as if he was the one who caused Hikari's pain.

He pointed towards the bottle that Sora was holding, then pointed to Hikari as if saying it was for her.

Sora was a little skeptical to give a strange potion to Hikari, considering it was from someone wearing an Organization coat, but he really didn't have time to debate over this.

Pulling the top off, he poured the potion down Hikari's throat when she wasn't coughing the stuff up.

Instantly, color came back to her face and she didn't cough the black substance up.

She gasped for air while she was on her hands and knees.

"What just…"

She looked up to see the mysterious man.

Sora placed a hand protectively on her back and went to summon his keyblade.

The man just looked at them and gave them a slight shrug.

Sora and Hikari gasped when they saw that gesture.

Riku used to do that all the time.

The man quickly ran off after he did it and left them there in the snow.

Sora and Hikari were awestruck at what just happened.

Was the person who just saved Hikari the same one that they were trying to find?

"That guy" Sora mumbled.

"No…why would he?"

A tear ran down Hikari's face as she reached out towards where the man went.

"Riku…."

Donald ,Goofy and Mulan came up to them.

"Are you two ok?" he asked.

Sora nodded numbly.

He didn't want to tell them that that spy could have been Riku.

Hikari slowly stood up and held her side. All of that coughing made her sides hurt.

"Did you get him?" Goofy asked.

Sora shook his head.

"No, he's gone" he said.

"You mean you lost him?" Donald barked.

Hikari just held herself and looked at her friends. Her chest burned slightly from her latest pain attack. She really didn't know what that potion was, but it really worked quickly.

"Now what do we do?" she asked.

"I think we better get rid of all the heartless first" Goofy said.

Everyone agreed to that. if they let the heartless roam around, then that would be bad.

The ground around them suddenly shook.

"What was that?" Mulan asked.

She looked at the group.

"We better get off the mountain"

They quickly ran down the summit before they were caught up in another avalanche.

/

"Hey Sora" Hikari said.

Sora looked at her.

"About what you saw when I was in pain…could you not tell Donald and Goofy about that?"

Sora gave her a stern look.

"I don't think that's something you should hide from your friends" he said.

"Especially since it puts you through so much pain"

"But I don't want to worry you all with this" Hikari insisted.

"You would make us worry if you didn't say anything!" Sora responded.

"What if you were having another attack and we didn't know how to cure it? I promised Riku that I would protect you and I can't do that when you're coughing up black stuff. You need to let us know when you're feeling these pains so we can try to prevent them from happening again"

Hikari was about to say something, but the look that Sora gave her made her shut up. She felt bad that she was keeping this from him, but she didn't want to burden him with unnecessary worry.

She sighed before she nodded.

"Alright" she said.

"Thanks, Sora"

Sora smiled at her.

"Hey. What are friends for?" he asked.

Hikari smiled and continued walking down the slope.

/

The shaking returned as they walked, only this time it was much worse.

A loud explosion came from the mountain and shot something in the sky.

Everyone gasped in horror when they saw a giant dragon heartless flying in the air.

It roared loudly before flying towards the Imperial City.

"It's heading for the City!" Mulan cried.

"We've got to warn Shang!"

They ran as fast as they could off the mountain and headed for the city.

They just hoped that they would make it in time.

/

Meanwhile in the Emperor's chambers, the mysterious man had somehow snuck his way into the room.

He fought with Shang for a bit and managed to get the upper hand.

Shang fell to the ground when he was defeated and looked up in horror when he saw the intruder walk up to the Emperor.

The Emperor stood up from his seat and gave the intruder a serious look. He didn't know why he was here, but he would listen to what he has to say.

It was as if his heart was telling him that he needed to listen.

/

When the group finally made it to the Imperial City, they checked to see where the dragon might be.

"I don't see it anywhere" Hikari said.

"It must be hiding" Donald said.

"Well, now…"

Ling, Yao and Chien Po came up to them.

"Look who decided to show up" Yao said.

"Is that a problem?" Sora asked.

"Nah" Ling said.

"We're just glad you're not in black cloaks" Chien Po said.

Everyone gasped.

"You saw him?" Mulan cried.

"Yeah-he's in the palace" Yao said.

Hikari looked at the palace and bit her lip.

If it was really Riku who was the 'spy', then why would he be seeing the emperor?

They quickly ran towards the palace, but were stopped by heartless.

"Not again!"

They quickly took care of the heartless before they ran towards the door to the palace.

Sora tried to open them but found that they wouldn't budge. He grew frustrated and started banging on them.

"Open up!" he cried.

Donald and Goofy joined in by pushing on the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"The door isn't going to open if you just push on it" Hikari said.

"Look how big it is"

As they were arguing, Mulan looked up at the pillars and saw that they lead to the upper level of the palace.

She suddenly came up with an idea.

"Over here!" she said.

She ran up to the pillar and started climbing up.

Hikari quickly caught on to what she was doing and followed her example. She undid the silver sash that she had tied to her side and used that as leverage to help her up.

Sora, Donald and Goofy soon followed after and shimmied up the pillar until they got inside the palace.

/

When they made it to the antechamber, they saw the man wearing the Organization cloak standing near the door towards the emperors chambers.

His back was turned towards them, which proved to helpful to the group when the landed on the ground.

They quietly walked up to him and made sure they were close enough so that he wouldn't get away.

"Wait!" Mulan cried.

The man flinched and slowly turned around to face them.

Sora and Hikari were hesitant, but they lowered their keyblades and looked at the man hopefully.

"Riku?" Sora asked.

Donald and Goofy were surprised when they heard Sora say that, but they didn't voice their opinion.

The man pulled his hood back to reveal not Riku, but rather Xigbar.

"Nope. Never heard of him" he said.

Hikari gasped when he saw his face. Memories of him from when he was before a nobody flashed through her head. He was one of the guards that protected the castle back when she was little.

"Braig!" she cried.

Xigbar smirked evilly.

"Well if it isn't little Hikari" he said.

"You've sure grown. You even look just like your mom"

Hikari growled when Taiyouko was mentioned.

She almost forgot that she was mad about her not saying Xemnas was her father.

Xigbar just laughed and disappeared into a portal.

"Be a good girl now" he said.

With that, he was gone.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"Did you know that guy?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Back before he became a Nobody" she said.

"He was one of the guards that protected the castle when I was little. That was before Hollow Bastion was taken over. I guess he became a Nobody just like…my dad"

Goofy rubbed his head.

"I guess it wasn't Riku" he said.

"Sorry about that" Donald said.

They knew how Hikari really wanted to see Riku badly.

Hikari gave them a weak smile.

"It's fine" she said.

"At least I know it wasn't him that was wreaking havoc on this world"

Mulan looked at them sadly,

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay here" she said.

"I'm worried about Shang"

Everyone nodded in understanding and quickly headed for the Emperor's chambers.

/

Everyone was relieved to see that Shang and the Emperor were alright.

"Your Excellency! Shang! Something terrible has happened!" Mulan cried.

"We saw a huge monster fly out of the mountains and towards the city!"

The Emperor nodded.

"So it as the young man said" he said.

"Isn't that right, Captain?"

Shang nodded.

"Y-yes, your Excellency" he said.

The Emperor saw the groups confused looks and decided to clear things up for them.

"You see, a young stranger visited us not long ago" he said.

"The Captain fought the visitor , but was quickly defeated"

"To my dishonor" Shang said.

"It seems the young man was the one in black that I have heard whispers about" the Emperor continued.

Sora and Hikari looked at him hopefully.

"Did he mention the name Riku?" Sora asked.

"Or was there a woman wearing a white dress with him?" Hikari added.

She hoped and prayed that it was Riku. She had been searching so hard for him and now she just wanted him back.

"He didn't offer his name and he was alone" the Emperor said.

"He was rather rude"

"Rude?" Sora asked.

"Then it WAS Riku!"

Hikari couldn't believe it. Riku was really here. Then that meant she was getting close to finding him and her mother.

"But why would he come here?" Mulan asked.

Before Sora and Hikari could say anything, the palace shook. Roars could be heard from outside.

The heartless was here.

"I'll go check outside" Mulan said.

She ran down the steps with the others following here.

"Mulan!" Shang called out.

Mulan stopped and looked at him.

"Shang-guard the Emperor!" she said.

"I'll be fine with them"

"That is true" the Emperor said.

"We need not worry while you protect us"

They nodded to that and quickly left the chambers so they could deal with the threat that outside the Palace.

/

Mulan carefully opened the door so she could peer outside for the heartless.

She didn't have to search for long because it popped right in front of her.

Everyone screamed but they composed themselves and quickly ran out of the palace so they would have more room to fight.

The dragon flew all over the court area and stooped low enough for the group to grab its tail and climb up on its back.

They started attacking it while they were on its back and managed to destroy a few of its horns while they were at it. However, when the dragon did a flip, it caused the group and fall back to the ground and attack him by foot. Sora did this move where he would slide underneath the dragon's belly and performed a cross slash.

Hikari got a little artistic shot off arrows made from light and had them hit the heartless when it was flying.

After a few more hits from them, the heartless let out dying cry and came crash towards the ground.

Everyone ran away so they wouldn't they get hit, but Mulan stood frozen in place. She was so afraid that she didn't know what to do.

Just when she thought she was going to face her doom, Shang came running from the palace and ran towards her.

"Mulan!" he cried.

He ran towards her and shield her from being smashed by the heartless.

Luckily, they didn't get crushed since the heartless disappeared and let it's heart go free.

Sora pumped his fist at the scene.

"Way to go!" Sora cried.

Hikari smiled fondly at Shang protecting Mulan.

"How sweet"

Shang and Mulan blushed when they stood up, but smiled at each other.

Since the heartless was destroyed, the palace erupted with applause from being saved once again.

/

With the heartless defeated, everyone stood before the Emperor.

"Once again, you have served China well" the Emperor said.

"It would please me to reward you. What is it that you wish?"

Donald was thinking about money while Goofy thought about food.

Sora and Hikari looked at each other, then at the Emperor.

"Well…you said a guy in black came to see you" Sora stared.

"What did he say?" Hikari asked.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow.

"That is all you request?" he asked.

They both nodded.

"Yes sir"

The Emperor chuckled.

"Dragons have crossed our land and left a great web of paths" he began.

"These dragons wield much power, and they are the source of many gifts to both man and nature. But it would seem someone of evil intent disturbed one of our dragons, and transformed it into what you call a heartless. It is my belief that this young man came to warn me of that danger. Then, I could alert and prepare my troops"

"Did you?" Sora asked.

The Emperor smiled.

"I was about to, but he told me the situation had changed" he said.

Shang smirked.

"He said three 'wise guys' and a beautiful sorceress had arrived, and that they would take care of things"

Everyone smiled.

"That's got to be Riku!" Sora cried.

Hikari blushed.

Riku had called her beautiful. She felt she could die right then and there.

Goofy looked at them.

"But what's he doing hanging out with Organization Xlll?" he asked.

Sora shook his head.

"No idea" he said.

"But at least we know he's ok" Hikari added.

"That's good enough"

The Emperor nodded and looked at Mulan.

"Now then, Fa Mulan. Do you have a request?"

Mulan fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"I'd like Shang….I-I mean the ….well…the captain" she stuttered.

"Yes, yes, my dear. What is it?"

Mulan gulped.

"Could the Captain have a vacation please?"

Shang looked surprised at Mulan's request.

The Emperor simply laughed.

"I hardly expected such humbled requests" he said.

"In this case, I'm afraid I must refuse. Captain Li's responsibility is to protect the Emperor"

Mulan looked at the ground sadly.

"And yet, Mulan…"

She looked up at the Emperor.

"Would you like to serve alongside him and protect me?" he offered.

Shang and Mulan looked surprised.

"Two reeds are stronger than one" the Emperor continued.

"But the choice is yours alone"

Mulan smiled brightly at the prospect of being with Shang.

"Thank you, your Excellency!" she bowed.

Sora and Hikari smiled hopefully at the scene. It made them think about their significant others and how they wished to be with them again soon.

After talking a bit, the group decided to bid their farewells and head towards their next world.

Just as Hikari was walking down the steps, she was stopped by the Emperor.

"Wait just one moment, my dear" he said as he walked up to her.

"Yes, your Excellency?" Hikari asked.

The Emperor pulled out a potion bottled containing the white liquid within it.

"The young had asked me if I could give this to you before he left" he said.

"He said it was of utmost importance that you got this"

Hikari slowly took the bottle and examined it.

"Did he say anything else?" she asked.

The Emperor shook his head.

" Only that you stay safe on your journey" he said.

Hikari nodded and thanked him before catching up with Sora.

As she was walking, she saw a note attached the bottle.

She held it up and read with it said.

_Should you feel any pain in your chest, just take a drink of this._

_Once sip should be enough, so please use it wisely._

_Please be safe and I hope to see you soon…my beloved princess._

Hikari reread the letter to make sure she didn't mistake anything.

When she did, she smiled and held the bottle close to her heart. She knew right then and there that it was Riku who saved her up on the mountains.

As she headed back for the Gummi ship, she smiled knowing that wherever Riku was, he was out there, trying to protect her.

/

**A/N: Aw, Riku is looking out for her, even though he can't be with her. I wonder what that special potion was and what it does for Hikari?**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	29. Beast's Castle part 2

Chapter 29: Beast's Castle part 2

**A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! Since it's a new year, why not start it off with a new chapter? I'm glad to see that you're all wondering what that little potion is. You've got some pretty good ideas, but let's see what else you come up with. **

**I know the fighting scene in the last chapter really wasn't good, but since they'll be fighting an Organization member in this one, I'll make it up to you all.**

**I'm also going to hold a contest for those who wish to do fanart! I'm in need for some fanart so I can create a fan club for the 'A Trail of Memories' series. Whoever wins, gets to have a chapter dedicated to them and can create a flashback scene that they would like Hikari to see. **

**For those who wish to participate in this contest, just tell me so in your review!**

**Now onward with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari watched the white liquid slosh around in the bottle as they traveled to their next world.

She didn't know what it was, but she knew that it really worked. It made her little pain attack vanished within seconds.

She re-read the note that was attached to it and smiled.

It touched her that Riku went out of his way to make sure that she was safe. Even when they were kids, he would always look out for her and make her feel special.

She recalled one event at Riku's 6th birthday party.

/

_Flashback_

_It was near the end of Riku's birthday party. His parents were seeing everyone off and thanking them for the gifts._

_Hikari and Kairi stayed behind since they had to leave with the Mayor. _

_Kairi was off with Sora while Hikari hung out with Riku._

_She had a really great time. Since she couldn't remember her past, that was the first birthday party that she went to._

_Riku smiled as they walked around in the backyard._

"_Thanks for coming to my party" he said._

"_I was really glad that you could come"_

_Hikari blushed slightly at the compliment. _

_She didn't know why, but she felt really happy when he wanted her at his party._

_Riku kicked at an empty cup that littered the floor before he looked at her._

"_Say Hikari. When is your birthday?" he asked._

"_I want to know so I can get you something"_

_Hikari's smile faltered when she was asked that._

_Since she couldn't remember anything from before she came to the islands, she didn't know when her birthday was._

"_I…I don't know" she said quietly._

_She picked up her pendant that hung around her neck._

"_I can't remember anything from before I came to the islands" she said._

"_Things like my birthday or my family is still fuzzy to me. Even though I get bits and pieces of it, it still not enough to clear the haze. The only things that I do remember is my name and this pendant I wear"_

_She sadly looked at the ground._

"_I don't even remember if I ever celebrated my birthday"_

_Riku looked hurt. He thought it was horrible that she couldn't remember anything about her past life. If he forgot all about his birthday, it would crush him. Birthdays were supposed to celebrate you being alive in this world._

_He smiled when he suddenly got an idea._

_He gently grabbed her hand and squeezed it._

"_Then let's make my birthday yours too!" he said._

_Hikari was taken aback by his suggestion._

_Make her birthday the same as his? That was crazy?_

_Riku just laughed._

"_Until you get your memories back, when can share the same birthday" he said._

"_We can share the same fun and joy like everyone else does on their birthdays. Instead of struggling to reclaim your old memories, we'll make newer ones instead"_

_He gave her a bright smile._

"_What do you say, birthday buddy?"_

_Hikari was at a loss for words. She never expected him to react this way. Normally, everyone would look at her with pity for not remembering her past life and yet here he was smiling and trying to create new memories to replace the lost ones._

_She couldn't help but smile as well._

"_That sounds like a good idea!" she said._

_Riku smiled some more and held her hand tightly._

"_Alright. Then next year, we'll have a joint birthday party!"_

_Hikari giggled at that._

"_Sounds good to me!"_

/

And it was good. The year after that, she and Riku always had a double birthday party with their friends.

Hikari thought it was such a sweet gesture on Riku's part to do that for her. Ever since she found out she was a sorceress, she remembered that people fear her because of her powers. It was like they wish she wasn't born.

But with Riku, it was as if he was telling her that she mattered and he wanted to share his special day with her. He wanted to show her how much she meant to him.

This was one of the reasons why she loved him so much and why she had to find him.

He made her feel so special and wanted, she wanted to show him how special and wanted he was to her.

She held the potion bottle to her heart and thought of her childhood sweetheart.

"_I'll find you, no matter what"_

/

Back at Beast's Castle, Belle hummed as she viewed herself in the mirror. She wore her yellow ball dress that she had on when she was at Hollow Bastion.

She was all smiles as she thought about the events that were about to unfold tonight. The Beast was kind enough to throw a little party for them and was willing to dance with her. She hummed a happy tune as she brushed her hair over her shoulder.

"I hope tonight goes well" the wardrobe said.

"So do I" Bella replied.

"But I wonder why he's so nervous?"

The wardrobe shrugged.

"The master does have his shy side, you know" she said.

Belle just smiled at that and went back to getting ready for tonight.

/

Meanwhile, the Beast paced back and forth in the parlor. He was dressed up in a fine blue suit as if he were going to a party.

He looked up at the stairs to see if Belle would show, but sighed when he didn't see her.

"Hey there!"

The Beast turned around to see Sora and the gang walk up to him.

Hikari smiled when she saw the Beast all dressed up.

"Wow. Don't you look nice" she said.

Donald looked around the area to see if there was any sight of the heartless or the nobodies.

"No heartless and no Nobodies" he said.

"I think they're close though" Goofy said.

"Better watch out" Sora said.

The Beast just sighed in annoyance.

"Why are you so mad?" Donald asked.

"Why are you here?" The Beast replied.

"The Nobodies' world has to be out there somewhere" Sora said.

"We're looking for a way in"

"Although I doubt it would be this easy to find it here" Hikari said.

The Beast just looked up at the stairs when he saw Belle coming down. The princess of heart was all smiles as she saw him.

The Beast walked up the steps to meet with Belle. He looked over his shoulder to confront his friends.

"Tonight is very important" he said.

Hikari smiled when she realized what was going on. She thought it was really romantic.

"Don't worry about us" she said.

"We won't get in the way of your little date"

The Beast blushed slightly before he escorted Belle to the ballroom.

Goofy looked at his friends when the doors closed.

"Uh, maybe we came at a bad time" he said.

"I think so, too" Hikari said.

"But at least we know how much Beast cares about Belle. It's really romantic and makes me wish that men were more like that"

Sora and Donald had a tick mark appear on their foreheads when they heard that. Did she think that they weren't romantic enough?

"Well, there's only one way to find out" Donald said,

He quickly ran up the stairs with Sora following behind.

Hikari sighed in frustration.

"They can be so childish" she said.

Goofy simply looked confused by the whole thing and didn't say anything.

Hikari stormed up the steps with Goofy hot on her trail. He knew better than to be around her when she was really mad. Especially if it was directed towards Sora and Donald.

/

Belle and the Beast walked towards the center of the dance floor, where the castle's servants stood. Everyone smiled as they saw their master all dressed up for Belle.

"Now then, Monsieur, Mademoiselle. Please, enjoy the evening" Lumiere said.

When they heard the doors open, they saw Sora and the others entered.

"And of course, our honored guests are welcome, too"

Hikari laughed nervously.

"Sorry about this" she said.

She marched up to Sora and Donald.

"You two!"

She bashed their heads together.

"Honestly, what am I going to do with the both of you?" she asked herself.

"You can be so inconsiderate sometimes. It's no wonder you have trouble wooing your significant others"

The two 'victims' rubbed their heads before looking at Hikari's angry face.

"_At least she's back to her normal self" _they thought.

Belle laughed at the scene.

"A welcome indeed"

Everyone gasped when they heard someone else in the ballroom.

They looked at the upper floor and saw Xaldin.

"The Organization!" Sora cried.

Hikari glared daggers at the nobody and summoned her keyblade. Another one of her father's followers.

"You two don't know when to quit" Xaldin said.

"Oh yeah! We'll show you!" Donald cried.

The Beast glared at Xaldin before running towards him.

"Get out!" he growled.

Belle watched helplessly as The Beast went into his attack mode and ripped his suit off.

"Not tonight" she pleaded.

Her plea fell on deaf ears, for Xaldin summoned up a few of his nobodies.

"I've come to take something you hold dear" he said before he left.

The Beast roared as he flung a few of them out of the way

"Beast! We have to get rid of these guys first!" Sora cried.

Hikari ran up to Belle and quickly ushered her and the servants outside the ballroom.

"Stay out here until its safe" she said.

Belle nodded and told her to be careful.

The young sorceress was in full swing as she slammed her keyblade into a dragoon nobody. All of the anger she felt towards her father and his followers fueled her up to take down these empty shells that were once human.

She got a little crafty with her magic and did a combo spell where she create a mini tornado out of wind and cast a fire spell over it so it would create a mini flame thrower and burn the nobodies to crisp.

"_I guess this is the upside to being a sorceress" _she thought.

When the nobodies were gone, Belle and the servants came into the ballroom.

Sora sighed with relief.

"She's ok" he said.

"I guess Xaldin didn't take anything after all" Goofy said.

Everyone thought that was good, but the Beast gasped in horror as he thought of something. He quickly ran out of the ballroom and headed to his own chambers.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked.

Belle picked up her dress and quickly ran after the Beast.

"What's going on?" Donald asked.

Hikari thought about it. If Belle wasn't the only thing that was precious to the Beast, then that meant there was something else.

She gasped in horror when she realize what it was.

"Hurry!" she cried.

She ran out of the ballroom with the guys following after her.

She hoped that Xaldin didn't take what she thought he would.

/

Deep within the Beast's chambers, the cursed prince paced across the floor in sheer anger.

Belle flinched when he roared so loud that it made the pictures on the wall rattle. He even made Sora and Hikari take a step back in fear.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked.

When she got no response, she muster enough courage to approach him.

"Please, calm down" she pleaded.

The Beast growled and rounded out on her.

"You just had to have a party, didn't you?" he growled.

"Don't you see what's happened?"

Sora and Hikari glared at The Beast. They didn't like how he was treating Belle.

"What's with you?" Hikari asked.

The Beast clenched his claws.

"The rose…my rose…"

Hikari looked where the Rose was supposed to be, only to see that it was gone.

"_So Xaldin really did take it" _she thought sadly.

"What? That?" Sora asked.

"He took it?"

Belle looked at him sadly. She knew the rose meant a lot to him, but she didn't just how important it was to him.

"But surely, you can find another rose…" she suggested.

The set the Beast off.

"Silence!" he roared.

"You don't know anything!"

That did it for Sora and Hikari. As soon as they heard the Beast yell, they quickly stood in front of Belle for her own protection. They both glared at their friend's behavior.

Hikari was furious. How dare he make this Belle's fault and take it out on her? She was not going to let him get away with this.

"That's not fair, Beast!" she shouted.

"Don't take this out on Belle! Yelling at her isn't going to bring it back"

"It's not like she stole it!" Sora added.

Belle at the Beast's torn expression.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"Don't apologize" Sora and Hikari said.

The Beast looked at his friend's sadly before looking away.

"Belle…Sora….Hikari…" he said.

"I want you to leave the castle" he said.

Belle looked horrified by his suggestion.

The Beast just shook his head.

"Look at me" he said.

"Look. This is what I am. When you first got here, I tried to change. But I was only fooling myself. I can't be any different. I will always be a beast, so I should live like one. With no one, alone. Good-bye"

Belle looked at him sadly.

"You can't mean that…" she said.

The Beast simply turned around, showing that he was done talking.

Sora and Hikari looked at their friend sadly. All their anger towards him vanished when they saw just how broken he was. It seemed that he really was trying to prove he had a good side, but it just wasn't enough. He needed proof that he had turned over a new leaf.

And the proof was the rose.

If the rose would help him, then they would get it back.

"Leave this to us, Belle" Hikari said.

"If we get the rose back, he'll calm down"

Belle nodded sadly and walked out of the room.

Everyone followed her so they could give the Beast his space.

/

Everyone watched Belle sadly as she headed towards her room.

"Poor child" Mrs. Potts said.

"How could it have come to this?" Cogsworth asked.

"And they were so looking forward to this evening…" Lumiere added.

"Now, now you two" Mrs. Potts said.

"Once the rose is back safely, this will all be over"

The heroes watched their enchanted friends talking. They were curious about the rose as well. They knew it was special, but they didn't know just how special it was.

"What's so special about one rose, anyway?" Sora asked.

"If the master can love and be loved in return, the spell will be broken" Lumiere explained.

"We'll all be human again"

"Yeah. You told us" Hikari said.

"But there is a time limit" Cogsworth said.

"He must find his true love before the last petal falls from that rose. But that is not all…over time, caring for that rose has become a cherished part of the master's daily life"

"It's as though all his hopes and dreams are tied to that single bloom" Mrs. Potts said.

That tore everyone up. Who knew that so much could come out of a simple flower?

"Poor Beast" Sora said.

"We have to get it back"

"We can't do it without the Beast, though" Goofy said.

"If it's that important to him, he's got to do it himself"

"But he needs to get out of that mood he's in" Donald pointed out.

Hikari laughed sadly as she looked at the ground. She couldn't help but realize that she was like him just a few moments ago. After she found out who her father was, she felt as if her whole world was crushing down on her. She felt so helpless that she didn't know what to do. If it wasn't for Sora's words, then she would probably still be like that.

"And to think that I felt that helpless a while ago" she said.

She gave her friends a sad smile.

"I can't even imagine what he must feel like right about now"

Sora gave her a sympathetic look.

"Maybe he just needs someone to talk him out of it" he said.

"Maybe show him a motto he could follow under?"

Hikari smiled when she realized where he was going.

"He needs get out of that sorry state he is in" she agreed.

"I hate seeing someone look so broken. It reminds me of me"

Sora gripped her shoulder.

"Then let's prevent it from happening"

They turned around and went to Beast's room so they could put him back into shape.

/

The Beast sadly looked out at the night sky. He heard his friends come in, but he didn't want to talk to them.

"Hey, Beast" Sora said.

The Beast sighed sadly.

"Leave me alone" he said weakly.

Sora shook his head.

"Come on, you need to hear this" he said.

"You used to be fearless. You would have given your life to save Belle"

Hikari looked at the Beast when he didn't say anything.

"Don't you know what that meant to us?" she asked.

"You gave us all courage. You showed us that you don't need to have a special weapon to obtain your goals….you motivated me to never give up on Riku" she mumbled the last part.

When they saw that their words didn't affect him, they tried another approach.

"Maybe you should have kept some for yourself" Sora said.

"Are you really going to throw your happiness away?' Hikari asked.

"The rose is your only hope, but it's also the only hope for Cogsworth and the others too. So, don't throw away your last chance. Remember what it was like before Belle lived here?"

That must have gotten to the Beast because they saw him flinch.

She held out her hand to him and smiled softly.

"You've come too far to quit now, so don't give up" she said.

The Beast stayed quiet for a moment.

"I know one thing" he finally said.

"What?" Sora asked.

The Beast turned around with a determined look in his eye.

"This castle belongs to me" he said.

"Xaldin will never be welcome here"

Everyone smiled when they saw their friend back to his normal self.

"That's the Beast we know and love" Sora said.

Hikari was relieved to see her friend back to normal. No one should treat themselves like that. Not even her.

She quickly remembered something that she wanted to say to her friend.

"Oh, I almost forgot"

She walked right up to the Beast and slapped him right across the face.

"That's for yelling at Belle earlier!" she snapped.

"Even though you're proving that you're capable of loving, you still have to fix that temper of yours. You're not going to improve if you keep biting everyone's head off"

The Beast rubbed his face. Who knew that someone as small as her had a strong arm?

"I guess I deserved that" he said.

"You better believe that you did" Hikari said.

"Now go be the knight in shining armor that you are and protect your princess"

The Beast nodded and lead the way while the others followed.

"That was awesome" Sora whispered to Hikari.

The keyblade mistress merely shrugged.

"I have my moments" she said.

"No one should be that gloomy over something so important"

"Not even you?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Not even me"

/

When they made it to the Entrance Hall, they found out that they weren't alone.

"So, Beast…you came after all"

Everyone looked up at the entrance to the ballroom to see Xaldin standing up on the ledge, holding the Beast's rose.

"You had me worried" Xaldin said.

"I was afraid you'd given up for good"

The Beast just growled at the Nobody while Sora and Hikari glared at him.

"What do you guys really want?" Sora asked.

Xaldin just looked at them.

"Kingdom Hearts" he said.

Hikari paled at that. She should have figured her father would be after that dreaded place. If his heartless went after it, then surely his nobody would as well.

Xaldin pulled his hood back to reveal his face.

"When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully and completely" he said.

"So you see, Beast-that's why we need your heartless AND your nobody!"

Hikari gasped when she saw his face. She remembered Xaldin back when he was human.

"Dilan" she whispered.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"Was he from Hollow Bastion as well?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

Xaldin smirked darkly.

"So you remembered me, have you?" he asked.

"I'm sure your father will be 'thrilled' when he hears that his little princess is remembering"

Hikari growled when he mentioned Xemnas.

"Don't you dare bring him up in front of me!" she screamed as she lunged at him.

Sora pulled her back and held her in place.

"Don't" he warned.

"He's just trying to mess with your head"

Hikari stopped struggling, but she kept glaring at Xaldin.

The nobody just laughed and summoned his nobodies.

"Let me help you vent off that anger" he said.

"Your father would be furious if I made his little princess angry"

Hikari slammed her keyblade into one of the dragoon nobodies before kicking another one out of her way. She didn't want to admit that Xaldin was helping her vent off her anger, but she just couldn't help but feel furious. Why did that nobody have to remind her that her father was the leader of Organization Xlll and that he was using her to build Kingdom Hearts?

She decided to ponder on that later and focused on getting rid of the nobodies and then Xaldin.

When the nobodies were destroyed, Xaldin jumped off the ledge and floated towards the doors of the castle.

He 'humph' at them before walking through them with the rose in hand.

"We can't let him get away" Hikari said.

They quickly ran towards the door and headed into the court yard.

/

Everything was quiet outside. The only sound you could hear was the wind blowing through the trees and the chirping of crickets off in the distance.

It left and eerie feeling in the pit of everyone's stomachs.

Up in Belle's Tower, the princess of heart had changed back into her normal outfit. She stood out on the balcony of her room and sadly looked up at the night sky. Since this might be her last night staying at the castle, she wanted to enjoy this view, no matter what.

She looked at the ground to see the Sora and the others. When she saw the Beast, she sighed sadly.

Why did he have to act his way?

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she sensed something behind her.

Turning around, she gasped when she saw the Beast's rose sitting near her door.

"Is that…"

She smiled and picked up to show the Beast.

"Look!" she called out.

"It's the rose!"

Everyone looked up to see Belle holding onto Beast's rose.

"How did she get it?" Sora asked.

"I thought Xaldin had it?"

Hikari was confused for a moment as well, but then realized that it was a trap.

"No Belle!" she cried.

But it was too late. Xaldin appeared behind Belle and covered her mouth.

"Belle!" the Beast shouted.

Xaldin jumped from the ledge and landed near the bridge of the castle.

The Beast ran towards the doors that kept it closed from the court yard and smashed them open.

Everyone saw Xaldin waiting for them with Belle pinned to his side while he carried to rose in his hand. Belle tried to pull herself out of his grasp, but the nobody had a firm grip on her.

The Beast skidded to a stop when he was close enough so they wouldn't get away.

He growled deeply at Xaldin.

"You!" he cried.

"Get out of my castle now!"

"With pleasure, but I'd rather travel light" Xaldin replied sarcastically.

"What shall I leave behind? Belle? Or the rose?"

This was a really tricky situation.

Sora and Hikari knew that the Beast needed to rose in order to become a human again, but he also wanted Belle to be by his side forever. They hoped that their cursed friend would listen to what his heart said.

Belle bit her lip nervously. She too also knew that Beast needed his rose. She didn't know what he was thinking right about now.

The Beast had so much hatred in his eyes as he stared the nobody down. He had already made his decision and now it was time to get his most treasured item.

"Belle!" he cried as he ran towards her.

Everyone smiled in relief when they saw the Beast go for Belle. The princess of heart was touched herself. After everything he had just said to her earlier, he would pick her over his rose.

Since he had done something so selflish for her, it was her turn to do the same.

When she saw that Xaldin wasn't paying attention to her, she elbowed him in the gut and quickly snatched the rose before running away from him.

"Good one Belle!" Sora cried as he ran towards Xaldin.

"You go girl!" Hikari added.

Belle just smiled and ran towards the castle where it was safe.

Xaldin gripped his side in pain as he glared at the group. It would seem that his plans were ruined and he had to use 'Plan B'.

He stepped back and let the wind whip around him fiercely as he summoned his weapon. Several lances appeared before him; in which he grabbed two of them before hovering over the rest of them.

Hikari realized that Xaldin was planning on finishing them right then and there.

"_So it's a battle to the death is it?" _she thought.

She summoned the Oblivion keyblade and gripped her blades tightly.

She wasn't going to stand by and let one of her dad's followers finish them off.

"_If I defeat him, then that'll be one less supporter for my dad. I won't let him get what he wants! I won't let him win!"_

She charged as Xaldin started casting wind spells at them.

She flipped out of the way as a mini tornado was aimed for her and continued closing in on her enemy.

She let out a cry as she slammed her keyblades on one of his lances.

"Oh dear" Xaldin sighed.

"I would rather not fight you, Hikari. You're father would be furious if he found out that I had to kill you"

Hikari glared at him and kicked one of his lances out of the way so he wouldn't be protected by them.

"I don't give a damn what he's said to you!" she cried.

"I'm not going to stand by and let him destroy one world at a time!"

Xaldin sighed.

"How troublesome" he said.

He blasted her away with a gust of wind.

"Princesses should learn to behave and do as they're told"

Hikari dug her keyblades into the ground and glared up at him.

"I'm not just a princess, you know!" she said.

She dodged the blasts of wind that Xaldin shot at her.

"I'm a sorceress and a keyblade master! I do what my heart tells me!"

She swung her oblivion keyblade at Xaldin and growled when he jumped up and glided on his floating lances.

She was about to jump up, but Sora gripped her shoulder.

"You don't have to go through this alone" he said.

"Let us take him down as well"

Hikari nodded and watched as Sora and the Beast teamed up.

The Beast got underneath Xaldin and let Sora jump on his back as a boost. Xaldin swore when Sora landed in front of him.

"Hey, there" Sora said.

He slammed his keyblade into the lances and made them fall apart.

"Little pest!" Xaldin hissed.

He summoned his lances to him and had them connect together to create a giant lance that shot out beams of every.

"You won't get away from this!" he cried.

Hikari saw this and quickly summoned a shield of light that surrounded them as the beams went past them.

"I see you learned a few things from that wretched mother of yours" Xaldin said.

Hikari's blood boiled when she heard Xaldin curse out her mother. Sure, she was mad at her for lying and keeping her heritage a secret, but she would never let anyone talk badly about her.

"Now you've asked for it" she said.

She gathered up as much power of light as she could muster and created a few lances of her own.

"Try these on for size!" she cried.

She threw them at Xaldin and pinned him to one of the stone walls.

The nobody's lances clattered to the ground lifelessly when its wielder was defeated.

Xaldin struggled to pull himself out of the trap, but it was no use.

"A creature who gave into the darkness is no match for the power of light" Hikari said.

She dismissed her Oblivion Keyblade and gripped her white one tightly.

"It's over Dilan. You've lost"

Xaldin looked at her and chuckled deeply.

"Go ahead then…finish me" he said.

"I know that deep down you don't have the heart to finish me off. Even if I'm a nobody, you don't want to stain your hands of the death you've inflicted on me. You may be a keyblade master, but you're only just a child"

Hikari's angry exterior faltered as he said that.

Was that true? Did she not have the guts to go through with this?

She may have wanted him to be terminated badly, but she just couldn't stomach the thought of killing someone that once lived on her world with her. Even if she didn't know him well enough, she just couldn't find it in her heart to kill a familiar face.

She jumped slightly when she felt Sora place his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't listen to him" he said.

"You're a lot stronger than you realize. Sure, you may have a kind heart and you want to protect everything that you hold dear. But in order to do that, you have to vanquish the things that wish to harm it. Even if it's someone you know"

Hikari felt her courage boost up at hearing Sora's words.

"It doesn't matter what that boy says" Xaldin spat.

"You don't have the heart to finish me off yourself"

Hikari's keyblade shook slightly within her hand.

She would not let this nobody mess with her head.

Sora suddenly gripped her hand and held her keyblade as well.

"Who said she would finish you off herself?" he asked.

He gave Hikari a reassuring smile.

"We'll finish him off together" he said.

Hikari gave him a weak smile and mouthed 'thank you' to him.

They both ran towards Xaldin and pierced him in the chest with Hikari's keyblade.

The nobody let out a strangled cry as he broke up into tiny particles.

"It's over" Sora said.

Hikari was about to say something, but her words were choked within her throat as she felt pain in her chest again.

She nearly gagged when she tasted the black substance in her mouth.

"_The potion!" _She thought.

She quickly fished out the white potion and took a quick swig of it.

She sighed with relief when the pain died off.

She looked at the potion thoughtfully. She had to be extremely careful if she wanted this potion to last.

She couldn't help but wonder how long she would have to endure these pains within her chest.

"_Hopefully not for long"_

/

With the battle died down, everyone gathered in the court yard, where Belle and the servants were.

Belle's grip on the rose was as tight as ever. She wouldn't let it go ever since she got her hands on it. But since that battle was over, it was time to return it to it's rightful owner.

She slowly approached the Beast and handed it to him.

"Here. It's yours again" she said

The Beast reluctantly took his rose back before sadly looking at Belle. His regretted telling her that she needed to leave the castle earlier.

"Belle…" he began.

The princess looked away sadly.

"I know" she said.

"You want me to leave the castle"

Sora and the others stood off to the side with the servants sadly. This was so hard to watch. After the Beast showed that Belle meant more to him than his rose, she still had to leave.

The Beast looked up from his rose to look at her.

"What matters is…you weren't hurt by Xaldin… you're safe" he said.

Everyone smiled at that. At least he was showing that the rose didn't matter to him.

The Beast looked away bashfully.

"And…I'm very grateful to you…for bringing the rose back to me" he said.

"Thank you"

Belle had to smile at that.

"It's the least I could do" she said.

"You've been good to me. And you didn't have to be"

The Beast placed the rose down on the ground before wringing his hands nervously.

"Listen, Belle…" he said.

"Yes?" Belle asked.

The Beast gulped and looked at his friends.

"Say it!" Sora said.

"Let her know lover boy!" Hikari said.

"Go on!" Lumerie said.

"C'mon!" Donald cried.

"You can do it!" Mrs. Potts said.

"We have confidence" Cogsworth said.

"Don't be bashful now" Goofy said.

The Beast gulped and looked at Belle.

"Belle, I'd like you to stay…with me…" he said.

He held his hand out to her.

"Please?"

Belle smiled brightly at hearing she could stay.

"I will" she said as she placed her hand in his.

The group cheered when they saw the two of them starting to dance.

"They look so cute together" Hikari said.

Sora nodded.

"Hey, did you see the look on Belle's face when she grabbed that rose?" he asked.

"Yep, she sure was havin' fun, all right" Goofy said.

"She is rather unique" Lumeire said.

"Always ready for a little adventure" Mrs. Potts said.

"The two of them do seem made for each other" Cogsworth said.

"Yeah, they sure do" Sora said.

As Hikari watched Belle and Beast dancing, her mind wandered back to Riku. She wondered if he would do the same thing as what Beast did for Belle.

"I wonder if he would do that same for me?" she said quietly.

Sora looked at her.

"Who?" he asked.

"Riku" Hikari said.

"I wonder if he would pick me over something that he values the most"

The group smiled at that.

"Of course he would" Donald said.

"You're everything to him. He would give his life up for you" Goofy added.

Sora smiled.

"Do you remember when we were little, we wanted to see who could swim that farthest out into the ocean?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. He would always win and boast about it" she said.

"Right" Sora said.

"But there was that one time when your leg cramped up during our race and you almost drowned. Riku was in lead, but when he saw you struggling in the water, he ditched the race immediately and went to save you. He didn't even care that I won. All he cared about was making sure you were alright"

Hikari remembered that day. She felt so bad that she made Riku lose their race, but he simply told her that it was nothing and that he would beat Sora next time.

/

_Hikari blushed profusely as Riku carried her back to land. She would have walked herself, but since her leg cramped up, she had to have Riku carry her._

_Riku flung his damp hair out of his face as he reached the sand. He rolled his eyes when he heard Sora cheering on that he one the race for once._

_Hikari looked up at him sheepishly._

"_Sorry about making you lose, Riku" she said._

_Riku looked at her and gave her a small smile._

"_Hey, don't worry about it" he said._

"_It's just a stupid race. Your safety is more important to me than winning a silly race. Besides, there's always next time"_

_Hikari blushed some more before burying her face within his bare chest._

/

Sora gripped her shoulder.

"You know as well as I do that being better at everything means a lot to Riku" he said.

"But when it comes to your safety, he would throw that away in a heartbeat, just so he could keep you safe"

Hikari mulled that over.

Sora was right. Whenever she got hurt or was in trouble, Riku would abandon his little competitions with Sora just so he could make sure she was alright.

She smiled at that thought.

"I guess you're right" she said.

As she watched Belle and the Beast dancing, she made a mental note to give Riku a big kiss when she found him again.

/

**A/N: Hopefully that fight scene was a little bit better than the last one. Like I said, fighting scenes are not my forte. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!  
**


	30. Olymous Coliseum part 2

Chapter 30: Olympus Coliseum part 2

**A/N: I'm glad you like the fight scene in the last chapter. Hopefully, I'll keep that up. We get to see Auron again! Despite not being in the game as much as Leon and the others, he still manages to play as an important character.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The group sailed onward towards their next world. Everything was calm and peaceful…well, except Sora and Donald fight over who would steer the ship, but that was normal.

Hikari just lounged in her seat and looked out at the stars. Despite seeing them so many times, she never got tired at seeing them. They kept reminding her that there were other worlds out there and that each star could be one of them.

She sighed as she held her mysterious potion. She knew she had to be really careful using it. She didn't want the risk of having another pain attack when she used it all up.

She looked down at it. There was still a lot left, but not enough to put her at ease. It just made her more afraid of when she might have another attack. She didn't know when it would start or how painful it would be.

Knowing that she was probably crazy, she uncorked the bottle and took a swig of the potion.

"_I don't know if this will work, but if I suffer from another pain attack, this will be in my system long enough to counteract it"_

She put the potion away in one of her side pockets and looked out the window.

Sometimes she wishes that she wasn't so weak.

/

The group arrived at the Underworld's entrance. Everything seemed to look normal. The place was dark and gloomy. Even the arena in the distance fit in with the atmosphere.

The thing that did stand out was that Hercules and Meg were here as well.

The Olympic hero gave his friends a weak smile when he saw them.

"Hey" he said.

The group frowned. It seemed that he still couldn't get over letting the Coliseum get destroyed by the Hydra.

"Herc! You feeling any better?" Sora asked.

Meg sighed.

"Well…same routine" she said.

"Wonderboy here thinks his hero days are over and Phil thinks it's all in his head"

Hikari looked at Hercules sadly.

She couldn't help but see herself in his eyes. She wore that same look on her face not that long ago when she learn her true origins. Even thought it still made her upset, she knew that moping about it wouldn't change anything.

"_It's not like I just have to put on a sad face and it'll go away" _she thought.

"Gawrsh, Herc" Goofy said.

"We know you're a hero!"

"That's right…Blunderboy"

Hades appeared before them in a burst of smoke.

"How can you mope on a momentous day like today?" he asked.

"The Underdrome's back, and you're gonna fill the stands. After all, your fans won't settle for anything less than a certified hero"

Hercules was about to retort to that, but simply hung his head sadly knowing there was no point to it.

Hades sauntered over to him and placed his arm around his shoulders.

"I mean, if you're not up to it, you could always just, I dunno, LOSE?" he suggested.

Everyone glared at him.

"I bet you'd like that!" Sora snapped.

Hades held his hands up defensively.

"Excuse me?" he scoffed.

"Hey, I'm not a selfish guy. I'm not like those high and mighty snobs up on Olympus"

"Yeah, but they're not back stabbers like you" Hikari retorted.

Hades glared at her, but didn't say anything.

"I stand for the masses. And have I got a massive idea!" he continued on.

"The games, ladies and gentlemen…are back! Your truly, Hades-the one and only Lord of the Dead-brings you the ultimate games, to celebrate the re-opening of the ultimate coliseum! We'll finally answer the age-old question: who deserves the title 'Ultimate Hero'? These games are gonna settle the debate once and for all! The winner reigns supreme! Of what? You guessed it! The Hades Cup!"

Hades smirked darkly at Hercules.

"And I assure you that the 'Great' Hercules will be there" he said.

"Otherwise…."

He looked at Meg.

"You'll never see your girlfriend again"

With that, he left them.

"Lowlife!" Sora called out.

"Heh, you're too kind, Kid" Hades voice echoed.

Everyone looked at Hercules.

"Come on, Herc. You just have to compete" Sora said.

Hercules shook his head sadly.

"What the point?" he asked.

"I'll just screw up again"

"Don't think like that" Hikari said.

"The Coliseum wasn't your fault. Accidents happen all the time. Besides, if don't compete then Hades will hurt Meg"

She smiled softly.

"Think of these games as a way of redeeming yourself. If you win, then Hades' plans will be ruined. But if you don't, then you'll just prove that you're nothing but a coward and heroes are not cowards"

Hercules looked at her sadly.

"But I'm not-"

He was cut off when Hikari jabbed him hard in the stomach.

"Stop that!" she snapped.

"You are a hero! You just need to get back up on your feet. Now quit feeling sorry for yourself and sign up!"

Hercules rubbed his stomach. He thought that he was the only one who was really strong, but Hikari sure did have an arm on her.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it" he said.

Sora smiled.

"We'll back you up" he said.

"That's what friends do after all"

Hercules nodded and went over to the sign-up board.

Goofy scanned the names of the contestants and gasped when he saw a familiar name.

"Look! Auron's in the tournament too!" he said.

Everyone looked surprised. They hadn't seen their warrior friend since they were last here and wondered how he was doing.

"Uh-oh!" Donald said.

"We might have to fight him in the finals"

"I bet he's a real hero, huh?" Hercules sulked.

Hikari sighed.

"_Not again" _she thought.

And to think she was this upset before. It made her shiver just thinking that she was weak like that. Sulking wasn't going to change the fact that Xemnas was her father or that he was using her to build Kingdom Hearts.

"_Being weak will cost you greatly. You could lose your life"_

Sora seemed to be annoyed by Hercules' attitude as well.

"Well, we don't think he's a bad guy…" he said.

"But you're the only hero around here, Hercules. You know that"

Hercules looked at the ground sadly.

"Maybe before…but now I'm just a wash-"

"Stop it!" Sora and Hikari snapped. Hikari went so far as to summon her keyblade.

The keyblade masters just pushed Hercules into the boat that would take them to the Underdrome.

Hikari looked at Sora as they headed to the arena.

"And to think you had to deal with me like this not too long ago" she muttered.

Sora gave her a weak smile.

"At least you were easy to snap back to yourself" he said.

Hikari weakly chuckled at that.

"Let's just hope Herc will be the same" she said.

It would take a miracle to get the Hero out of the mood that he was in.

/

The first round wasn't so hard. It mostly consisted a group of the weaker brand of heartless.

Sora and Hikari thought this would be a good idea to get Hercules back into shape, but it seemed the Hero thought differently. He didn't fight with as much girth as he used to. He just simply swung his fists around and missed, only to make himself trip. The group had to get rid of the heartless in order to head into the next rounds.

Hercules hung his head sadly when the match was over.

"How'd it go out there, champ?" Sora asked.

Hercules shook his head.

"I'm just not what I used to be" he said.

"Sorry to drag you guys down like that"

Sora stomped his foot.

"Don't give up yet! We need you in the semifinals!" he cried.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah. This game is all about you" she said.

"We can't win the games for you. That's something you need to do. If you don't, Hades will hurt Meg"

That motivated Hercules to move on to the semifinals.

He managed to put up a fight in this round. He really didn't have a choice since they were really powerful heartless. Sora and the others got rid of the exploding kind while Hercules got rid of the rest of them.

When they were done, Sora pumped his fist.

"We made it into the finals!" he cried.

Donald jumped up and down.

"If we win, we'll all be heroes!" he said.

"Oh, so that's why you're so happy" Goofy said.

"We can't stay junior heroes forever you know" Sora pointed out.

Hikari looked at Hercules to see him on the ground tired out. It seemed this match took a lot out of him.

"_Or he's just out of shape" _she thought.

Hercules looked at them tiredly.

"I'll try not to mess things up" he said.

A tick mark appeared on Hikari's forehead. He was still being all depressed?

She felt bad for him, she really did. But she knew that this had to stop.

She stormed up to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slapped him across the face a few times.

"Herc, pull yourself together!" she cried.

Hercules' eyes spun when she stopped slapping him. Apparently that did the trick.

"I'm alright now" he said.

"I'll tell you when you're ok!" Hikari said.

She slapped him across the face a few times for good measure.

"Hikari's right, Herc" Sora said.

"You can't throw in the towel now. Look how far you've gotten"

"Yeah. If you win, you'll become a hero again" Goofy said.

Hikari stopped slapping him and let him rub his face.

"Sorry I slapped you, but it was for your own good" she said.

Hercules rubbed his face where it was red and winched.

"You got quite an arm on you" he said.

Hikari smirked and placed her hands on her hips.

"Have to if you're going to be a keyblade master" she said.

Hercules smiled slightly, but frowned when he saw someone was watching them.

"Hey look over there" he said.

"I think he's our final opponent"

Everyone turned around and was surprised to see Auron there.

"Auron!" Sora called.

Something dark surrounded the fallen warrior before he looked at them.

"And you are?" he asked.

That threw everyone off. Did he forget who they were?

"I must defeat you and atone for my crimes" he continued in a monotone voice.

He left them all confused and dazed.

"What was all that about?" Hikari asked.

They went after him to see what their warrior comrade was up to while Hercules rested for the next round.

/

They watched as Auron went through the Entrance of the Dead.

"What would he be doing in there?" Sora asked.

They went through it and quickly had to hide because they saw Auron standing with Hades.

The Lord of the Dead had a dark smile spread across his face as he looked at the dead warrior.

"Ok, let's review" he said.

"State your crime, prisoner"

Auron hung his head in shame.

"I exist" he said.

"That is my crime. It is…inexcusable"

"Oh, good. Very good" Hades said.

Sora raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"What's wrong with Auron?" he asked.

"He's never acted like that before"

Hikari quickly put a hand to his mouth.

"Shh!" she hissed.

They went back to listening on the conversation.

"Okay, you made one lousy mistake: you exist" Hades said.

"But hey, I'm a forgiving guy. You keep your end of our little deal, and I'm willing to overlook a transgression or two"

"I understand" Auron said.

"Defeat Hercules"

Hades grin darkened.

"And his meddling friends" he added.

Something flashed through Auron's eyes at the mention of Sora and the others.

"What? No, only Hercules" he said.

Hades sighed in annoyance.

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten who's in charge?" he asked.

He placed his hand on Auron's shoulder and sucked some type of energy out of him and poured it into a doll that looked like him.

"Hercules and the other four" Hades repeated.

"Are we clear?"

When he removed his hand, Auron's eyes looked dull and lifeless.

"We're clear, Hades" he said.

The Lord of the Dead smiled in satisfaction.

"Good. Now go" he said.

Sora and the others stared in horror at what they saw.

"So that's how he's controlling Auron" Sora said as they watched Hades head back to his lair.

They quickly hid when Auron passed them. When he left, they came out of their hiding spot.

"What a jerk!" Donald cried.

"He'd probably think that as a compliment" Goofy said.

Hikari crossed her arms in anger.

"I can't stand seeing Auron do that lowlife's bidding" she said.

It reminded her of when Riku sided with Maleficent to make his heart stronger, only to have it backfire on him. she couldn't stand to see that happening to someone else.

"We've got to help him!" Sora cried.

They quickly ran back towards the Underworld so they could stop their fallen friend.

/

When they managed to catch up with Auron, it was too late. He had already taken a boat that lead him towards the Underdrome where he would compete with them.

Sora hung his head sadly.

"Now what?" he muttered.

Hercules walked up to them.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Auron's in trouble!" Hikari cried.

"It's like Hades brainwashed him!"

"He's using some kind of a statue" Goofy added.

Hercules rubbed his chin.

"You know something? That sounds kind of familiar…" he said.

"Hades may be using the statue to hold Auron's free will hostage"

Everyone panicked.

"What do we do?" Donald asked.

"See if you can find that statue" Hercules said.

"It's gotta be somewhere in the Underworld"

Sora and Hikari nodded.

"We're on it!" Sora said.

Just then, Hades appeared before them.

"Tell me you're not thinking of leaving" he said.

"You've got a match coming up"

The group glared at Hades. Leave it to him to ruin everything.

Luckily, Hercules had their back.

"I'll fight Auron in the final" he said.

"One on one"

Everyone looked surprised, even Hades.

"Oh, you will?" he asked.

He turned around to think this over.

Hercules leaned over to Sora and Hikari.

"I'll draw things out to buy you some time" he whispered.

Sora and Hikari looked shocked.

Hercules barely managed to make it to the finals without his help. How was he going to last on his own against Auron.

"But-" Sora protested.

Hercules smiled.

"Just hurry back" he said.

"I know you can do it!"

Just then, Hades came back into the conversation.

"Congratulations!" he said.

"You've got yourself a deal"

"Thanks" Hercules said as the boat came back for them.

"On one condition" Hades said.

"The keybladers here, and their trusty friends have to meet the winner in one final clash, Whaddya say?"

"That'll drive the crowd wild" Hercules said sarcastically.

"It'd better" Hades said as they stepped into the boat.

"I promised the crowd the event of their afterlife"

Sora and Hikari waved at Hercules as he sailed to the dome.

Hades smirked darkly at his enemy.

"Sucker!" he muttered.

"You know for me, the rest is smooth sailing"

Sora looked at the others.

"Let's go get that statue" he said.

Everyone nodded and quickly ran towards Hades lair.

/

"What do we do once we get the statue back?" Donald asked.

Sora shrugged as they ran through the underworld.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that we have to give it back to Auron" he said.

Hikari sighed sadly.

"It's so sad to see someone as strong as him being controlled like that" she said.

"Makes you realize how cruel the heart can be"

Sora nodded.

"But it also shows you that there are other hearts out there that won't let this happen" he said.

"Now let's go get that statue and return Auron to his usual self"

They quickly ran down through the Valley of Dead and ran up the stairs to Hades' throne.

/

Back at the match, Hercules kept dodging Auron when he swung his large sword around. He needed to buy as much time for Sora and Hikari, so the only thing he could do was avoid attacking.

Auron was like a mindless zombie as he swung his weapon around. He was like a puppet that had its strings pulled by an evil puppet master. He really didn't know who he was fighting, or that four of them were very dear to him.

Hades just smile from his seat as he watched Hercules struggled.

"Now that's what I call entertainment!" he said.

Meg and Phil watched off towards the sidelines as Hercules struggled. They were tempted to call off the match, but they knew this had to be done.

They needed to stall time.

So, they kept their mouths shut and watched as their hero barely managed to jump away from Auron's attack.

/

When the group made it to the top of Hades' lair, they saw the statue sitting casually on a table.

"There it is!" Sora cried.

"You would think that he would put it somewhere safe and not in the open" Hikari added.

Sora walked up to it and went to pick up. As his fingers wrapped around the little wooden finger, he suddenly got zapped.

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked.

She went to touch him, but she got zapped as well. Donald and Goofy did the same thing and were zapped as well.

"What's going on?" Donald asked.

Suddenly, images of two figures flashed through their heads as Auron's voice echoed around the room (A/N: I'm sure you can guess who these figures are if you've played Final Fantasy X)

"_It is not too late!"_

"_Let us turn back!"_

"_Yes, but I...I cannot accept it"_

"_Where is the sense in all this?"_

"_But…there must be another way!"_

"_Your deaths will mean nothing!"_

"_You must live!"_

A tear ran down Hikari's face when the images faded. She had never seen nor heard Auron so broken before. It was as if whatever happened made him the broken, empty shell that he was now.

"I get it" Sora said softly.

"This is what belongs in Auron's heart"

"They're his most important memories" Hikari said.

"Gawrsh, he musta had a pretty rough life" Goofy said.

"Yeah…but in the end, that's really what made him stronger" Sora said.

"Let's give it back!" Donald cried.

Just then, a group of nobodies appeared.

"Where did they come from?" Sora asked.

Hikari went into her master mode and gripped her keyblades.

"I don't think we have time to think on it" she said.

Sora jumped up on the table and gripped his keyblades.

"Get out of our way!" he cried.

Hikari went into action and cast a melee of spells on the blasted nobodies. Anything that was connected to Xemnas would be destroyed by her.

She performed various spells of each element as well as making combinations. She got carried away and made a small thunderstorm by combining a thunder spell with a wind spell, which resulted in thunder clouds covering the room.

She found it to be funny actually. She started off, not knowing how to use magic and here she was creating complex spells.

"_I guess people change over time" _she thought.

When they got rid of the batch of nobodies, another group appeared.

"Hey, go away!" Donald cried.

The nobodies closed in on them, not caring that they cornered their enemies. Sora went to attack one, but gasped when a heartless suddenly appeared and started attacking the nobodies.

Everyone was dumbfounded as they saw the heartless and nobodies fighting with each other. They thought that they would be working together to create Kingdom Hearts.

Hikari shrugged.

"Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it" she said.

"We better skedaddle!" Goofy cried.

The group ran out of the lair while the nobodies were distracted by the heartless.

"What do you think that was about?" Sora asked as they ran.

Hikari shrugged.

"No idea" she said.

"But something tells me it has to do with Kingdom Hearts"

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that.

"Think about it. All those hearts that we release are going to Kingdom Hearts. The nobodies and heartless were probably desperate when they saw fresh hearts in front of them and wanted them for themselves. Just a pack of wolves fighting over a piece of meat, really"

Sora shivered at that.

"I don't even want to imagine what would happen if they got a hold of our hearts" he said.

"Well, let's just be lucky that it didn't happen" Donald said.

"Yeah, otherwise we wouldn't be able to find the King, Riku or Hikari's mom" Goofy added.

Sora gripped Auron's statue as they made it to the boats for the Underdrome.

"Let's give this back to Auron before we have another heartless to deal with" he said.

They all jumped into the boat and quickly headed to for the dome before it was too late.

/

Hercules was at his wits end at this point. He tried to avoid Auron's attacks as much as he could, but he was draining fast. He should have given up a while ago, but he knew that he had to hang it in there for Sora and Hikari. They were counting on him just as much as he was for them.

"I can't disappoint them" he said to himself.

He was brought to his knees when Auron slammed his sword down on him. He was able to avoid getting cut in half by pressing the blade with his hands, but the force of the swing nearly knocked him down.

Hades was practically jumping in his seat as he saw Hercules struggle.

"Now!" he cried.

"Finish him!"

The command registered into Auron's controlled mind. He pressed harder on his blade to make it go closer to Hercules' face. Just a little bit more and he would be sliced into two.

"Auron! No!"

Sora and other others ran into that arena and watched as their friend almost cut Hercules in half.

Sora pulled out the little statue and held it up.

"Hey Auron! This belongs to you!" Hikari cried.

Sora chucked the statue at Auron. When it reached him, it exploded and had all the memories it held seep back into him.

The color in Auron's eyes returned as he came back to his senses. He blinked a few times, trying to grasp where he was and immediately pulled his sword away when he saw he was about to kill the wrong person.

Hercules sighed in relief.

"They made it" he muttered.

Auron turned around and looked at his friends.

"Sora. Hikari. Donald. Goofy" he said.

"Auron!" everyone cried happily.

They ran up to him and smiled when they saw he remembered them.

Hades was fuming in his seat. He was so close at defeating Hercules for good and then those keyblade brats had to ruin it.

"Why those little-"

He looked at Auron.

"Prisoner" he ordered.

"What happened to our mutual agreement? I can give you a clean slate, but you gotta work with me"

Auron scoffed and glared at him.

"Maybe you didn't hear me" he said.

"This is my story, and you're not part of it"

That threw Hades over the edge. He disappeared from his seat and stood in front of them in a explosion of smoke.

"THAT IS IT!" he cried.

"This game is over. I played by the rules so far"

He threw his hands up dramatically.

"Okay, I confess! I was hoping Wonderboy would lose" he admitted.

"But it was still a fair fight. C'mon, is it really so wrong?"

"Really? A fair fight?" Hikari asked.

The group snickered at that logic. Despite being a master schemer, Hades was so clueless.

The Lord of the Dead glared at them.

"Laugh, laugh, laugh all you want!" he said.

"Because the laughing is about to stop. Wanna know why? Because now we're playing by my rules"

He snapped his fingers and magically had Meg hovering a pit that lead to the river of the dead. If she fell in there, she was good as gone.

"Meg!" Hercules cried.

"Hercules!" Meg cried as she was floated further into the pit.

"I told you right at the get-go" Hercules said.

"You don't compete, you lose the girl"

He waved his hand and let Meg fall into the pit.

Hercules jumped from the arena and landed near the ledge of the cliff.

"Meg! Hang on!" he cried.

He jumped in after her.

Hades smirked and closed the pathway to the pit.

"Looks like Wonderboy had dropped out of the standings" he said.

Everyone glared at him. They weren't going to let him get away with this.

"Well, you've still got us to deal with!" Sora declared.

Hades smirked darkly when he came back into the arena.

"Oh yeah" he said.

"This is gonna be good"

Hikari went into her Wisdom Mode and let her keyblade hover next to her.

"You won't get away with this!" she cried.

Hades scoffed.

"Like I've never heard that line before"

Sora and Auron attacked him first while Donald and Hikari blasted him with magic. They all frowned when they saw their attacks had no effect on him.

Hades just laughed at their struggle.

"We can't win" Sora said.

"How come?" Donald asked.

"Because it's his Underworld" Auron explained.

"Then how do we beat him?" Goofy asked.

Hades slowly advanced towards them.

"Looks like the mighty keyblade heroes aren't so mighty after all" he said.

Just then, the sound of something exploded made him stop. He turned around to see that the door that lead to the river of dead was wide open.

His eyes bugged open.

"I think a true hero should be able to help"

He whipped his head around to see Hercules standing next to the group with Meg safely in his arms. The hero had his godly glow back as he smiled at the Lord of the Dead.

"I owe you one, Hades" he said.

"I didn't hesitate to give my life for Meg's. And then, I remembered: a true hero is measured by the strength of his heart"

Everyone smiled when they saw their friend back to his normal self again. Hercules set Meg down and let her get on Pegasus so she wouldn't be caught in the fight/

"I'll never forget that again" Hercules said.

"Just no more crazy stunts" Sora joked.

Hercules gave them a cheesy smirk.

"People do crazy things when they're in love" he said.

Hikari smiled softly at that when she remembered sacrificing her heart just to save Riku. She would have done it again if it meant keeping him safe.

"That they do, Herc. That they do"

Hades fumed when he was being ignored.

"What is so funny, you imbeciles!" he cried.

"How dare you get a happy ending! How DARE you!"

He charged up his godly powers so it would be impossible for the group to attack him. He was so angry about his plans being ruined that he forgot that Hercules had his godly powers back as well.

"You won't stop a true hero!" he cried.

He slammed his fist into his gut and stunned him so he wouldn't be able to defend himself.

Auron was on him first when he got the chance. After being controlled like a puppet, he wanted payback.

Sora went and teamed up with him so they could perform the Bushido skill.

When Hades came back to his sense, he charged up a powerful fire spell.

"Fell the heat" he said.

He sent a giant ball a fire straight at them.

"Look out!" Hikari cried.

She charged up her magic and created a wall made out of ice so they wouldn't get burnt.

Hades glared at her.

"You little witch!" he cried.

Hikari smirked darkly as she glided away from his attacks.

"I'm no witch" she said.

She sent a barrage of blizzard spells at him.

"I'm a sorceress"

She teamed up with Sora and performed a powerful blizzard spell. She used her keyblade as a bow while Sora coated his keyblade in ice and fired it off as an arrow.

Hades staggered a bit, but kept on fighting while holding his side.

Sora stomped his foot.

"There's got to be a way of fighting him!" he said.

Hikari thought about it, then suddenly thought of something.

"Fight fire with fire" she said.

She looked at Hercules.

"Herc! Finish him!"

Hercules nodded in understanding and summoned as much of his power as he could before ramming his fist into Hades' chest.

The Lord of the Dead felt the wind get knocked out of him at the impact.

When he noticed that he wasn't going to win, he quickly jumped over towards the pit leading to the River of Death; forgetting that it was still open.

Hikari noticed Hades staggering back towards the edge as he backed away from them.

She nudged Sora and held out her keyblade. The Brunette smirked when he caught on to her idea.

Both pull out their keyblades and flung them like a boomerang.

"Have a nice trip!" Hikari said.

"See you next fall!" Sora added.

Both keys hit Hades in the chest and caused him to trip into the River of Death.

This was the end of the Lord of the Dead.

Hikari felt a slight twinge in her chest, but noticed that it stopped quickly.

She smirked as her idea to drink the potion before fighting worked.

"_I guess I'll have to do that from now on" _

/

With the tournament done, everyone headed back towards the entrance to the Underworld.

Everyone looked at Auron. The fallen warrior really didn't say much since he came back to his senses.

"What'cha gonna do now?" Donald asked.

Auron looked at the ground.

"I lived my life defending others" he said.

"But now…there's no one left to protect"

He looked up at them.

"Maybe…it's time I shaped my own story"

Everyone smiled at that.

"Yeah…you deserve it, Auron-after everything you've been through" Sora said.

"Try and add a little flare to it as well" Hikari added.

"All this protecting others gets a little boring after a while"

Auron smirked slightly at that.

"I suppose I should thank you" he said.

"Not at all" Sora said, trying to sound mature.

Auron shrugged and turned around.

"Fine"

The group slumped at that. And to think that Auron might have a compassionate side.

Sora rubbed his head nervously.

"I mean, sure, you could thank us a little…" he said sheepishly.

Auron turned to face them again.

"You should say what you mean" he said.

"I guess I could spare a few words"

Everyone braced themselves for what heart-felting words Auron night give them.

"Thanks for meddling"

Everyone sweat dropped at that.

"Hey, what's that mean?" Hikari whined.

Auron just smirked and walked away further into the Underworld. Starting to write a new chapter to his own story.

/

Nighttime had over the coliseum by the time everyone came up from the Underworld. With Hades out of the picture, things were bound to turn better.

Hercules smiled at his friends.

"Thanks again, guys" he said.

"You're the best"

Donald was still peeved at Auron's words.

"Excuse us for meddling" he scoffed.

"Aw…sounds like somebody's feathers are a little ruffled" Meg teased.

"I'm kidding. Thank you, Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy"

"So where you guys headed next?" Hercules asked.

Sora shrugged.

"Aw, you know…you two lovebirds seem to be getting along just fine without us hanging around" he said.

Meg and Hercules blushed and took a step away from each other.

Hikari giggled at that.

"We better go" she said.

"Yeah, before we start meddling" Donald added.

"Are you turkeys trying to put me out of a job?"

Everyone turned to see Phil walking towards them.

"If you keep acing every challenge, who am I gonna train?" he asked.

"Aw, you can't abandon me now, Phil!" Hercules said.

"I gotta be at the top of my game in case Hades shows up again"

Donald suddenly remembered something and got into Phil's face.

"Hey, are we true heroes yet?" he asked.

Sora and Hikari joined in.

"Yeah! C'mon, Phil. How about it?" Sora asked.

"Not that it's important…but it would make us look good!" Hikari added.

Phil examined them.

"Lemme see…" he said.

"Well, you're not wise enough…not quite….seasoned enough…"

Sora sweat dropped at the comments.

"Okay, okay, we get the hint" he said.

Phil shrugged.

"Look, it's not my call" he said.

"Course if it was, you'd have no problem. I'd make you all heroes, in a heartbeat"

Everyone smiled at that. So even Phil believed that they were worthy of becoming heroes.

"Really?" Donald asked.

"Say that again" Sora added.

Phil took a step back when saw the gleam in their eyes.

"On second thought, if those are your 'hero' faces, you still go a lotta work to do" he said as he walked away.

The group wasn't going to that, so they started following him.

"Hey, what do you mean?" Donald asked.

"Go away!" Phil said.

"Phil!" Hikari whined.

"Leave me alone!"

The poor goat mad started running away as they chased after him.

Meg giggled at the scene, then looked up at the stars. The images she saw made her gasp.

"See that?" she asked.

Hercules looked up and smiled.

"Well, Whaddya know" he said.

The group stopped chasing Phil and looked up at the stars.

They gasped when they saw their images printed up in the dark, enchanted sky. It seemed that the gods themselves thought they were worthy of the hero title.

Phil saw this and couldn't help but cry in his arm. Having not one, but four of his rookies being turned into heroes at the same time was overwhelming for him.

Everyone was cheering at the sight of themselves being up in the sky with all the other heroes of legend.

Hikari smiled wistfully at her image.

"_Hey, Riku. Can you see this from where you are?" _she thought.

She placed a hand on her heart.

"_If you can, then this'll be a great story to share with you…along with other ones I've had on this journey"_

Now it seemed that Hikari had another title to her name.

Princess of Heart, Keyblade Mistress, Sorceress of Light and now Hero of the worlds.

/

**A/N: I know this fighting scene sucked. But I have a lot more fun when it comes to the battles that are on my favorite worlds. So for those of you who are fearing that I'll screw up on the Port Royal battle, fear not, I would never ever do that. That'll ruin Jack Sparrows name!**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	31. Port Royal part 2

Chapter 31: Port Royal part 2

**A/N: We finally get to see Jack Sparrow again! I'm sure you've all been waiting for this chapter to come out for a while. Hopefully the fighting scene won't suck. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my Oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone was excited that they were finally dubbed as true heroes.

"It's about time" Donald said.

"After everything that we've done, we deserve to be called heroes"

Hikari just rolled her eyes and sat in her seat. She was glad to be called a hero as well, but that fight took a lot out of her. Who knew that fighting a god would be so hard?

Just then, the intercom to the ship started buzzing.

"Looks like Chip and Dale are trying to get to us" Goofy said.

Sora messed around with the knobs until he got a clearer signal.

"Hey, everybody!" Chip called out.

"I'm picking up a strange reading"

He sent an image to one of the monitors to show them some sort of blurry object that was out in space.

Everyone gathered around the tiny screen to see if they could get a better look, but nothing improved. All they could see was the outline of some type of castle.

"Probably just a glitch" Dale said.

"But it's better to be on the safe side"

They logged off with them and resumed with their travels.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Hikari asked.

Sora shrugged as he steered.

"Who knows?" he asked.

"But like they said: it's better to be safe than sorry"

Hikari just shrugged it off and lounged in her seat.

Since she got bored real easily on these rides, she dug out the picture of Riku and herself.

A small smile spread across her lips as she saw the two of them holding hands. This was the closest she was going to get with Riku until she actually found him.

She didn't know where this drawing came from and she didn't know who drew it. All she knew was that whoever drew this, she was very grateful to them.

Just then, an image of a girl with blonde hair and a white dress flashed through her head. She smiled weakly as she held onto her sketchbook.

Hikari blinked her eyes when the image went away.

"That was weird" she muttered.

"I wonder who that was? I know I've never seen her before…but it feels like I have"

She just sighed and held the picture close to her as they kept on sailing.

/

The island of Isla De Muerta was eerily quiet. The atmosphere was bone chilling as the moon reflected all of the treasures that lay around. All were beautiful as the polish of gold and the glimmer of jewels reflected through the night.

The cursed chest of Cortez however sent chills through the air. Even though Barbossa was gone and defeated, the chest itself was still a danger. With it left open, anyone could get their greedy little hands on the cursed medallions and turned into the living dead.

That was a dangerous power for anyone to hold.

And it was just the power that a caused an Organization member to want to steal it.

/

Everyone was glad when they returned to Port Royal.

"I wonder how Jack is doing?" Hikari asked.

"Hopefully he hasn't got in trouble while we were gone" Donald added.

Just then, shouts could be heard from the port.

"Looks like we've got trouble" Goofy said.

"Let's go see what's going on" Sora said before running.

Hikari took a quick sip of her potion as she ran. She didn't want to risk the chance of having a heart problem while fighting.

When they made it into port, they were horrified to see Jack running from a group of not just any pirates, but cursed pirates.

"Jack!" Sora cried.

The captain looked revealed when he saw his friends.

"Zola! Hiker! Some assistance!" he called out.

Both keyblade masters scoffed when Jack said their names wrong.

"It's Sora and Hikari!" Hikari corrected him.

Jack just gave them a face.

"Will you leave a mate to perish?" he whined.

The group just sighed. For claiming to be the greatest pirate in the Caribbean, he could be so childish.

"Aye, aye…" Sora muttered.

They quickly ran up to Jack and backed him up against the cursed pirates.

"I almost forgot how much I hate fighting these guys" Hikari muttered.

She flipped out of the way when one of them tried to slam his axe down at her.

"But at least the moon is out"

Sora did a sliding dash and flung his keyblade like a boomerang at a pirate that tried to shoot him. He smirked when he saw the cursed pirate crumble to dust.

Jack threw a few bombs at them to keep them at bay while the fought with his sword at the ones that were close by.

Hikari and Donald teamed up by cast the pirates on fire and let them run around burning before they turned to piles of ash.

When the pirates were gone, they mulled over what just happened.

"Those were cursed pirates" Sora said.

If they were cursed, then that could only mean one thing: someone got a hold of the Aztec treasure.

"But I thought we'd seen the last of the curse of the Aztec gold…so what gives?" Hikari asked.

Everyone turned to Jack, hoping he would have the answers.

The Captain didn't look happy about the situation they were in.

"Some scallywag must've gotten greedy" he said.

Everyone gave him a skeptical look. If he was talking about greedy, then he was one to talk.

Jack noticed their looks and placed his hands on his hips.

"Oh, I see" he said.

"You don't trust me, do you?"

"You got that right" Sora said.

Everyone nodded in agreement. They learned to never trust a pirate from their last journey here.

Jack sighed wearily.

"Likely a wise choice" he admitted.

"I AM a pirate, mates"

"Jack!"

Elizabeth came running towards them. She had a frantic look on her face when she saw her friends.

"_Some sticky business is afoot here_"Jack thought.

He went to walk away, but Elizabeth stopped him.

"Wait, Jack! I need your help" she pleaded.

"The cursed pirates have returned. Will had to find out why…so he went to Isla De Muerta-to check on the Aztec treasure. I fear something's happened. You have to take me to him"

Jack looked at her and placed a hand on his sword.

"Aye, there it is" he said.

"If you'll be wanting him rescued, you best do it alone, lass"

Elizabeth glared at him.

"Alone? Really, Jack?" she asked.

"Sail to the island and take on the cursed pirates?"

Jack shrugged.

"Well, if any lass could.." he muttered.

Sora rolled his eyes. The group found it to be a little selfish of Jack to not want to help Will out. They thought he was his friend?

"Are you sure he's in trouble?" he asked.

"No. Not certain" Elizabeth said.

"But he's been gone too long. I wanted to go with him, but he insisted I stay here. I can't just sit and wait! I've got to know if he's alright. Please, just take me to him"

Jack sighed.

"Hold a moment" he said.

"I see no profit in it for me"

Elizabeth glared at him.

"I shall reward you, of course…" she hissed.

"But you owe Will. He has saved your life before"

Everyone looked at Jack, knowing that he couldn't make up an excuse now.

He sighed, knowing he was cornered.

"Right. Shall we then?" he asked.

Everyone was about to head for the Black Pearl, when Jack stopped them.

"Just a moment" he said as he pointed to Hikari.

"It's bad to bring a woman on a ship. I'm lucky I managed to survive the last time you were here and I'm forced to bring Lizzie with. You stay here so you don't get hurt"

The guys gulped and took a step back. They knew how Hikari got when it came to feminine things.

Hikari glared daggers at her pirate friend.

How dare he come up with something like that?

She summoned her keyblade along with the Oblivion one and aimed them at his face.

"You want to rephrase that?" she asked.

Jack quickly took a step back.

"Ladies first" he said.

Hikari smirked darkly.

"That's what I thought"

With that out of the way, they went on the Pearl and started their search for Will.

/

There was no sight of Will or a ship out in the open sea. With the moon clouded up, it was hard to see anything really.

"I hope Will is ok" Hikari said.

"I'm sure he is" Sora.

"He may not look like it, but he's strong"

Hikari nodded and went back to looking for their friend.

Goofy leaned over the railing as he scanned the ocean and gasped when he saw the Interceptor.

"Interceptor of the starboard bow!" he cried.

Everyone ran to where he was and saw Will hanging off the ledge of the Interceptor.

"Will!" Elizabeth cried.

Jack placed a hand to his heart and bowed his head in respect.

"Stop that, Jack!" Elizabeth hissed.

They steered the Pearl as close as they could to the Interceptor and pulled Will off before taking him to the Captain's quarters.

Elizabeth lifted Will up a bit and slapped his face lightly.

"Will, wake up" she said.

Will groaned when he came to his senses and opened his eyes.

"Elizabeth…" he said weakly.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked.

Will groaned as he rubbed his head.

"The medallions…" he began.

"And…the stone chest-someone's taken them…next thing I knew, we were attacked….but I couldn't see who it was-his face was shrouded…in a black hood"

"The Organization!" Hikari hissed.

So her father was wreaking havoc on this world too?

"We found a way out of the cave…" Will said.

"But the villain sent a horde of terrible creatures after us…I've never seen their likes before…I think I'm the only one who made it back to the ship…"

With that, he passed out from exhaustion and fell back on the bed.

The group looked at each other. Since the Organization was here, then that meant they had work to do.

"It's our turn, guys" Sora said.

Elizabeth stood up from where she was sitting and looked at them.

"You'd best be prepared" she said.

"We've no idea what's out there"

Everyone nodded but Jack had to ruin the moment.

"Pardon me lads and lasses" he said.

"But your Captain will have no monsters today. Thank ye. We're turning for home"

Everyone glared as he headed for the deck.

"Just like that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Just like that" Jack replied.

"Chicken" Donald muttered.

Jack opened the doors to the cabin and found an unexpected guest standing on the main deck.

"Don't remember inviting you" he said suspiciously.

The group ran out to see what the commotion was and growled when the saw an Organization member. With him, he had the Aztec treasure with him.

"So it was the Organization!" Hikari said.

Everyone pulled out their weapons.

"We'll handle this!" Sora said.

The Organization member held his hand out as if to stop them.

"The darkness of men's hearts-drawn to these cursed medallions" he said.

Just then, a grim reaper like heartless appeared before them.

"And this heartless- a veritable maelstrom of avarice: I wonder, are they worthy to serve Organization Xlll?"

"And you want an answer now?" Jack asked.

"Precisely!" The Organization member said.

With that, he disappeared and left the heartless to them.

Hikari reverted into her Master Mode.

"Are you sure you should be going into those modes so often?" Sora asked.

Hikari shrugged as she aimed her keyblades at the heartless.

"It gets the job done, so I'm not complaining" she said.

Sora just looked at her nervously before facing the heartless.

"Just don't overdo it" he said.

"You never know what those powers will do to you if you use them too frequently. Especially when you're drained of magic"

Hikari just snorted.

"What's the worst that could happen?" she asked.

They didn't get to mull over that thought for long since the heartless attacked them. Everyone had to jump out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by that giant scythe it was carrying.

Jack tried attacking it from afar since he didn't want to get involved with this mess, but Donald just kicked in the rear and shoved him into the fight.

"Stop being a chicken and start fighting!" he yelled.

Sora attacked the heartless head on and did a melee of attacks when the heartless left his guard down.

Hikari sent a barrage of spells of every element that she knew of. She wasn't going to let the Organization win while she was around.

"_I won't let you win, dad!" _she thought.

If defeating this heartless would prevent him from reaching his goal, she would do it, even if it killed her.

Sora managed to land the finishing blow towards the heartless, by swinging around the main mast like a sling shot and aimed a flying kick to its chest. The heartless went overboard and landed into the ocean.

"We did it!" Donald cried.

"It's not over yet!" Sora said.

They looked at the Organization member who reappeared to them. He pulled his hood back to reveal to be none other than Luxord.

"Throw him overboard!" Jack ordered.

"Aye aye!" The group cried.

Luxord held his hand up.

"Parley!" he cried.

Jack frowned, knowing the meaning of that word.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Barley?" Goofy asked.

"It's a bit of a pirate's code" Jack explained.

"Anyone who invokes 'parley' must not be harmed 'til negotiations are complete"

Sora glared at him.

"This is no time for rules!" he snapped.

"True" Jack said.

"But as we're honorable pirates we should always stick to the Code"

"You sure about that?" Hikari asked.

"Last I check, you should never trust a pirate"

Jack ignored her and looked at Luxord.

"Alright you, out with it" he ordered.

Luxord motioned towards the chest.

"I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies" he said.

"It's got to be a trick" Sora whispered.

Hikari nodded.

There was no way the Organization would willingly hand over a cursed chest after they stole it.

"Rather accommodating of you, mate" Jack said.

"And for that you want…?"

Luxord smirked darkly.

"Just a few souvenirs…" he said as he picked up four medallions.

"For the memories"

He threw them up in the air and let a few of his nobodies run off with them.

"Oh no!" Goofy cried.

"We can't stop the curse unless we got all of the medallions!"

Jack glared at Luxord.

"Our friend's about to learn what it means to cross a pirate" he said.

"Oh?" Luxord said.

Just then, the grim reaper heartless burst from the ocean, looking as if it was cursed…and a lot more powerful.

"Sora! Hikari! Donald! Goofy!" Jack said.

"He's yours!"

Everyone glared at him.

"Don't be throwing these battles just on us!" Donald snapped.

The heartless swung its scythe, sending a powerful blast of wind at the group and causing them to crash onto the Interceptor's deck.

Luxord summoned his nobodies and pointed at the ship.

"Fire!" he cried.

They fired off the cannons and caused the ship exploded.

Will and Elizabeth watched in horror as they saw the ship blow up to smithereens with their friends on it.

Hopefully they managed to survive.

/

Thankfully, everyone managed to survive the explosion. They were all a little banged up, but they were alive. They wound up on some broken pieces of wood that was left of the Interceptor.

Hikari groaned when she came to her senses. Her side was killing her from the way she landed.

When she opened her eyes, she was glad to see that everyone was alright…well, almost everyone.

Hikari was horrified to see that Jack was back to his cursed state.

"You stole a medallion again?" Sora asked.

Jack scoffed.

"Were I only that fortunate…" he said.

"Fortunate?" Donald asked.

"So, uh, how come you're all skeleton-y?" Goofy asked.

Jack placed a hand on his hip.

"Perhaps I got a touch 'o somethin' from that monster what attacked us" he suggested.

"Yet, why's the skin restin' right on you four?"

"Cause we're not greedy!" Donald said.

The group gave him a skeptical look.

Donald glared at them.

"What are you looking at?" he snapped.

"That still doesn't solve the mystery" Hikari said.

Jack went into a shaded area so he would look normal again.

"Gawrsh…maybe the reason we're all ok is because we're not from this world" Goofy suggested.

"There must be different laws" Donald added.

Now that he mentioned it, that did make a lot of sense. The fact that they were curse free could be because that this world's magic didn't affect them. It was both reassuring and sad at the same time. It just showed how out of place they were with the friends they made on each world.

"Yeah…" Sora said quietly.

"We're always just passing through…wonder when we'll see home again…"

"Or if this battle will ever end" Hikari added sadly.

That thought did pass through their minds more than once. With them being out to save the worlds from darkness, they always wondered when they would ever see their home world again.

For Hikari, she could always see Hollow Bastion since that was her home world and where their base was set up. But when it came to islands, she wondered if she would ever go back on the small island or hear the waves crashing against the beach. Since she lost her memories, that was her home. That was her connection to Riku.

Donald and Goofy looked at them sadly.

"Sora, Hikari…" Donald said.

The keyblade masters gave their friends a weak smile.

"Just kidding you" Sora said.

"Lucky we didn't get cursed, huh?" Hikari added.

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Quit yammering, mates" he said.

"We've got to find ourselves a ship that'll float'

Jack did have a point. They would need a boat if they were going to find the missing medallions and standing on the remains of a broken ship wouldn't help them at all.

They carefully walked around the ship wreak and managed to walk on small sections of rock.

It was kind of weird walking with Jack when he looked like a skeleton, but they couldn't complain.

As they were walking, Donald spotted something out of the corner of his eye.

"Look!"

One of Luxord's nobodies stood before them, tossing a medallion in its hand.

"A Medallion!" Jack cried.

"Get it!"

Hikari went into the stance for transforming into one of her modes.

"I'll get it" she said.

Sora looked at her nervously.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Hikari" he said.

"You just used one of your modes and got injured in that explosion. Take it easy"

Hikari snorted.

"Like I said, what could go wrong?"

Well, she should have shoved her foot in her mouth because her words backfired. She went to go into one of her modes, but instead darkness engulfed her entire body. Everyone freaked out when her whole body went black and her eyes turned yellow. She almost looked like a human version of a heartless and moved like one too.

Sora gulped when he saw his friend go into anti mode.

"What the bloody hell?" Jack asked.

Hikari acted like an animal as she attacked the nobody. Everyone was scared as they watched her attack with her clawed hands instead of using a keyblade. She used dark magic and blasted black fire from her hands before plunging her hand into the nobodies chest.

The nobody disappeared and left the Medallion behind. Everyone would have been happy if Hikari didn't round on them.

She got on all fours and charged at them, intending to strike them down.

Donald and Goofy screamed and held onto each other. Jack pulled out his pistol just in case.

Sora on the other hand, didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to revert Hikari back to normal without hurting.

Just then, his keyblade jerked in his hand and pointed at Hikari. A beam of light shot through it and hit Hikari square in the chest. The darkness covering her body disappeared and her body went to normal before collapsing on the ground.

"Hikari!" everyone cried.

They all ran up to her to see if she was alright.

Hikari groaned when Sora lifted her up.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You went into some creepy mode and destroyed that nobody like an animal!" Donald cried.

"It was scary" Goofy added.

Sora gave her a scolding look.

"I told you to take it easy on the modes" he said.

"Now you know what happens when you use them to much. You'll go into the creepy safety mode"

Hikari felt bad about nearly putting her friends in jeopardy like that. She though going in her modes would make things got faster, but instead it just backfired on her.

"Sorry" she said.

"I didn't mean to scare you guys"

"Just don't do it again" Donald said.

Hikari nodded and slowly got to her feet.

Jack went up to the Medallion when everything calmed down.

"Three more to go" he said.

"How do you know?" Sora asked.

Jack smirked at them.

"A pirate must have a keen eye" he said.

"Else he won't be sailin' free for very long, savvy?"

Just then, the Black Pearl was seen sailing towards them.

"Ahoy, mates!" Elizabeth called out.

Jack shook his head.

"Ridiculous imitation-and yet, I'm flattered" he said.

"At least we have a boat" Goofy said.

/

Once everyone got on board, Will and Elizabeth were horrified to see Jack back in his cursed state.

"Jack, what happened?" Elizabeth asked.

"This is horrible"

"Ah, but who's to blame for it, eh?" Jack replied.

"Well, it certainly isn't Elizabeth" Will retorted.

"It's Organization Xlll" Hikari said.

"They're the ones behind it all"

"Wonder where they went?" Goofy asked.

"The hooded man took the pirates and his creatures with him inside some strange hole" Will explained.

"We saw him leave from the inside the Captain's stateroom"

"Didn't occur to you to fight them, mate?" Jack asked annoyed.

"I'm no fool" Will said.

"I knew I was no match for them"

"That, I believe" Jack admitted.

Will looked at Sora and Hikari.

"I think we'll be needing your help again" he said.

"Got it" Sora said.

"First, let's find those medallions" Will said.

"Otherwise the curse won't be broken and the creatures will remain invincible"

"But the question is, where do we find the medallions?" Donald asked.

Hikari held up her hand.

"I think I have an idea" she said.

She took the medallion from Jack and held it in her hand.

"If I can use the magic from this medallion, I can try to track where the other three are" she said.

"Just don't overdo it" Sora warned.

Hikari waved him off and poured her magic into the medallion.

Three beams of light shot out from the coin and pointed towards one direction.

"Isla De Muerta" Jack said.

He headed up towards the wheel and started sailing towards the island.

"Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to bring you along" Jack said.

Hikari gave him a dull look.

"I'm flattered" she said.

Everyone sailed towards the islands, hoping that they would find the remaining cursed medallions.

/

"So how are we suppose to find these medallions?" Donald asked.

"With so much treasure here, it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack"

"I don't think we'll have a hard time looking" Jack said.

"If those creepy white creatures have them, then it'll be a lot easier. Although, fighting them is a different story"

"Don't worry" Sora said.

"Since you're cursed, fighting them should be easy"

Hikari patted their pirate friend on the back.

"Looks like you have your work cut out for you" she said.

Jack gave them a dull glare.

"Thanks" he said.

They walked further into the island and spotted one of the nobodies carrying a medallion.

"Alright, here's your moment" Hikari said as she shoved Jack towards the nobody.

Jack glared at them.

"What about you? Aren't you fighting?"

Sora waved his hand.

"We will, but since this effects you more than it does us, we'll let you do most of the fighting" he said.

"You want that curse taken off of you, right? Well go fight for it"

Jack glared at them.

"Little brats" he said.

He took out his sword and faced the nobody.

"Might as well put this under 'things I never thought I would fight with' list"

Everyone chuckled as they watched Jack struggle with his fight with the nobody. He looked so helpless as he tried to slash at the thing, only to jump away when it tried to attack him.

"Should we help him?" Goofy asked.

"Nah, he's doing fine" Sora said.

"Besides, this is payback for having us do all the fighting while he just fights from afar" Donald said.

When Jack finally finished the nobody, he looked exhausted. He picked up the medallion and staggered over to them.

"Here's the bloody medallion" he spat.

Sora chuckled as he took it from him.

"Since you did so good, we'll take care of the final two" he said.

Jack just grumbled and continued walking.

They eventually found the remaining medallions and headed back to the ship.

"That's four medallions" Sora said as he held them out.

"We got 'em all"

"But where's the chest?" Jack asked.

"If we find the hooded man, we'll find it" Will said.

Sora and the others mulled over their options. If the Organization was involved with this, then that meant they were looking for a lot of hearts.

And the place that would hold a lot of hearts was….

"He must be at Port Royal" Sora said.

"Why's that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Organization Xlll is after people's hearts" Hikari explained.

"So they're gonna go where there's lots of people"

"The hurt the townsfolk?" Will asked worriedly.

"No, they're brining 'em flowers, mate" Jack said sarcastically.

"I don't know who these Organizers are, but I will say they're making we pirates look like proper gents"

He stormed up to the helm so he could sail the ship.

"Well, Jack…then…we have to help" Will said.

Jack rolled his eyes, as if knowing that was the obvious answer.

"The let go and haul to free run free!" he ordered.

"He's probably cranky from all of the fighting" Goofy said.

"Well, there's going to be more fighting up ahead" Donald said.

As they set sail, everyone prepared for the fight that was about to come.

/

Everyone ran through the port once they landed. Sora and Hikari hoped that none of the townsfolk were harmed by the Organization.

They didn't get too far because the Grim Reaper heartless was waiting for them, along with the chest.

Jack pulled out his sword.

"Go, he's for me" he said.

He ran off and had the heartless following him.

Everyone quickly ran up to the chest.

"Now to break the curse!" Sora said.

He put the medallions into the chest and was relieved to see the heartless going back to normal.

"The curse-it's gone!" Donald said.

Well…it was almost gone. While the heartless went back to normal, Jack was still in his skeleton state.

He looked at his bony hand in horror.

"Then what's this?" he asked.

Goofy understood what the situation was.

"Aw, I understand" he said.

"Jack musta been cursed by that monster, not from takin' the gold"

Jack hung his head.

"Oh, I've no worries, then" he said sarcastically.

"It's ok, Jack" Hikari said.

"We'll just have to defeat the heartless, that's all"

The heartless attacked first and swung its scythe at them. Everyone jumped out of the way so they wouldn't get hit, but it hit the chest instead and had all the medallions fly out. Since they weren't in the chest, that meant the curse was activated on the heartless.

"Get the gold!" Jack ordered.

Using physical attacks wouldn't work on the heartless, so they had to use magic. Whenever they cast a spell, the heartless would drop a few coins in the process.

Hikari and Donald teamed up as they cast spells while Jack caught all the gold that was dropped.

Sora got a little carried away and managed to snatch the heartless' scythe from it and hit him with it.

"Piñata!" He cried.

He flung the scythe at the heartless and was rewarded with having the rest of the medallions falling to the ground.

Hikari used a magnet spell to gather the gold and quickly dropped them in the chest so the curse would be broken.

With the heartless vulnerable, that meant everyone could go full out on it.

Jack seemed to attack it the most since he wanted this curse taken off of him. He would use his sword and pistol or throw a few bombs and throwing knives at the thing.

"I guess when he wants something, he'll fight for it" Hikari said.

"Looks like he just needs to be motivated" Sora said.

Since they didn't Jack to have all the fun, everyone went full out and used their most powerful moves to finish the heartless off.

With the heartless destroyed, the curse on Jack was broken.

He smiled when he saw the flesh back on his hand.

"All better" Sora said.

Jack frowned when he saw Luxord appear.

"Ah, not quite, mate" he said.

The nobody smirked darkly as he gather the heart the heartless carried.

"Sora, Hikari. Bravo" he said.

Hikari growled and went to lunge after him, but Sora stopped her.

"Don't, it's not worth it" he said.

Hikari didn't say anything, but just glared at Luxord. It seemed that they foolishly helped Xemnas make Kingdom Hearts grow bigger.

Luxord just chuckled and went through a portal.

"Just who was that chap?" Jack asked.

"He's part of an Organization that's collecting hearts" Sora said.

"First, they release the heartless into different worlds. We defeat those heartless. Then they get the hearts"

Hikari sighed sadly.

"We're never gonna stop them like this" she said.

Jack placed a hand on his hip.

"What's the plan then?" he asked.

"We've gotta find their stronghold and finish them off once and for all" Sora said.

Jack crossed his arms.

"Sailing these waters, I've heard some tales, but not a one like this" he said.

"Is there any way we can help?" Will asked.

Jack smirked.

"There is" he said.

/

Jack came up with the idea of throwing the Aztec chest into the deepest depths of the ocean. With the chest out of the way, there would be no more cursed pirates or heartless lurking about. The only problem that Port Royal would have would be if a fish ate one of the medallions and turned into a cursed fish, but that wouldn't be a serious problem.

Everyone stood around the Pearl's deck, basking in their little victory.

"It's certain we don't need the likes of that hooded fellow or the heartless about" Jack said.

"They'll ruin the market for us true pirates"

"So that's why you went to Port Royal" Elizabeth said.

"And we thought you actually wanted to save everyone"

Hikari shrugged.

"Well, you know what they say about making a hero, they aren't made, they're just cornered into it"

Jack snorted at the comment.

"A pirate always looks for profit, Miss Swan" he said.

"Too bad" Sora said.

"You had us going there, thinking you'd turn over a new leaf"

"But what's beyond the leaf, savvy?" Jack asked.

Elizabeth remembered that she promised that she would give Jack a reward if helped to saving Will.

"Oh…oh yes- a reward" she said.

"And what'll it be?"

Jack smirked.

"Those lovely blades of Sora and Hikari's" he said.

Sora and Hikari looked surprised at first, but smirked knowing that it'll never work. Still, it wouldn't hurt to mess around with.

"Ok"

They summoned their keyblades and held them out to Jack.

Jack looked surprised that they would give him their weapons so easily.

"Hold on! That was too easy" he said.

"What's the rub?"

He carefully took the keyblades from them and held them up. Then, just like magic, the reappeared back in their owners hands.

Jack smirked knowingly.

"There, you see?" he said.

Hikari giggled.

"Well, you've always got the Pearl" she said.

Jack smirked.

"That I do" he said.

"But someday, I'll gather a blood thirsty crew, and come back to take those blades. Chance by then I'll have a way to wield them"

He looked at Will and Elizabeth.

"And if I succeed, , I'll have you two to join me. That'd be reward enough" he said.

"Done" Elizabeth said.

Will looked surprised that Elizabeth agreed so easily.

Goofy looked at Donald.

"Maybe someday, Jack'll be able to use the keyblade" he said.

"Why's that?" Donald asked.

Goofy laughed.

"He, Sora and Hikari are kind of alike, dontcha think?"

"Are not!" Sora, Hikari and Jack said in unison.

Everyone laughed at that and sailed the open sea.

"Some say Jack Sparrow's the worst pirate to ever sail the Spanish Main" Will said.

"No one could really mean that" Sora said.

"Right. We know he's the best" Will said.

"I hope we'll get to see him again" Hikari said.

She would never realize that sometime down in the future, that they would get to see their pirate friend again during their travels.

Much later on.

/

**A/N: ^-^ For those of you who are wondering, yes I was planning on having Jack come back again! That'll be one of the other stories that I have in mind for this series, although you'll have to wait after the Birth By Sleep one and the other two side stories I have in mind for this series.**

**It was really said to write this chapter, because I knew we would never get to see our favorite pirate again in this story. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	32. Atlantica: Ursula's Revenge

Chapter 32: Atlantica: Ursula's Revenge

**A/N: We're back to under the sea! Just one more chapter for this and then we get to hear everyone sing their songs. I know I'm looking forward to it.**

**Plus, since the Bears and Packers are playing today and I couldn't watch the blood bath this is to unfold, I decided to update.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

After a slightly tearful farewell to their friends in Port Royal, the group set off for another world to be saved.

"I wonder if we'll ever see Jack again." Donald asked.

Sora smiled.

"I'm sure we will" he said.

"What makes you say that?" Goofy asked.

Sora shrugged.

"Just this feeling I have"

Hikari just fiddled with her mysterious potion bottle. So far, it had been working and prevented her from having those pain attacks, but she wondered how long it would last. With each sip she took of it, the contents in the bottle grew lower and lower. It made her scared, knowing that eventually it would be gone and that the next time she fought, she wouldn't have anything to help her with those pains.

She just decided to ignore that thought for now and focused on saving the other worlds from darkness.

"_Their needs are far more important than mine" _she thought.

/

Since the group became a lot more powerful with their magic, they decided to swing on over to Atlantica so they could help Ariel get the pendant that belonged to Princes Eric.

The group gathered in her grotto afterwards and just watched Ariel as she held the pendant up in admiration.

"This is great, you guys" she said.

"I know he'll be happy to have this back"

Everyone smiled; glad that they could help Ariel get closer to her little crush. However, there was one person who wasn't happy.

"And just who is this 'he'?"

Everyone whipped around to see King Triton standing furiously at the grotto's entrance.

"Daddy!" Ariel gasped.

Triton glared at his daughter.

"Ariel, you know how dangerous humans are!" he snapped.

Sora and Hikari scowled at that.

Did he forget that they were humans and that they saved his world from becoming heartless bait?

Ariel turned away from him and looked at Eric's statue.

"You don't even know him!" she insisted.

"Oh, daddy, you've told me that you don't trust humans. But they can't ALL be as bad as you say. And I'm-well, I'm going to prove it to you"

Triton sighed.

"So help me Ariel, I am going to get through to you" he said.

"And if this is the only way… so be it"

His trident started to glow before it zapped the statue to smithereens. Everyone watched in horror as bits of statue floated to the ground.

Ariel swam out of the grotto with tears in her eyes.

Hikari glared at King Triton. That was foul what he did, even if he was trying to protect his daughter.

She swam up to him with her fists shaking.

"You're Majesty, despite knowing I have no say in this, but I think you went way too far!" she snapped.

The guys cringed when they saw Hikari was asking for it by talking back to the ruler of the sea.

Triton glared at her.

"You have no right to tell me how I should raise my daughter!" he growled.

Hikari didn't back down and just crossed her arms.

"You're right, I don't" she said.

"But I'm not going to stand here and watch you control her like that. She's a big girl; she can make her own decisions, even if you don't like them"

"But humans are dangerous!" Triton roared.

"They can't be trusted"

"I'm a human!" Hikari shouted.

"And I saved your world from fading into the darkness! Did the thought ever occur to you that maybe not all humans are bad? Do you think there aren't any bad mermaids roaming around Atlantica?"

Triton didn't say anything to that.

"You can't protect Ariel forever" Hikari continued.

"She needs to learn to from her mistakes and how to take care of herself. If she gets hurt along the way, then so be it, that's just life for you. Sometimes you can't live like a fairytale"

The guys thought that was going too far at this point so they pulled her out of the grotto.

"Ok, you've made your point" Sora said.

Hikari glared at Triton as the others pulled her away.

"The more you pull her in, the more she's just going to push away!" she warned.

"Next thing you know, she won't have anything that deals with you!"

With that, the group left.

Hikari's words struck King Triton to the point that he looked at the ground sadly, knowing that she was right.

/

Ariel sat on a rock as she cried into her hands.

Why did her father do that? Why did he have to take things so seriously? He claimed that humans were bad, but he didn't even know them.

Her heart simply went out for her prince. How she wished that she was a human so she could walk alongside him and hold his hand.

But since she was a mermaid, she knew that would never happen. Different beings could never live happily with each other.

"Ariel, you pour child"

Ariel looked up to see Ursula, the sea witch hovering over her.

The evil octopus had a dangerous smirk on her face as she looked at the sad princess.

Ariel backed away when she saw her.

"You're Ursula- the sea witch!" she said.

"Didn't my father banish you?"

Ursula just waved it off as if it wasn't important.

"That's right, angelfish" she said.

"But how could I stay away…when I knew you were miserable? What you need is a woman's advice"

Ariel scoffed and started to swim away. She didn't like the way Ursula held herself and just knew she was bad news.

However, the sea witch smirked, knowing that the next thing she said would make the mermaid stop in her tracks.

"What if I could make all your dreams come true?" she asked.

Sure enough, Ariel stopped at that and looked at her.

"My father wouldn't allow that…" she said sadly.

As if he would let her interact with a human.

Ursula shrugged casually.

"Oh, well" she said.

"It mustn't be true love, if you'll give up that easily"

Ariel flinched at that.

That wasn't true. She really did love Eric, even if she simply watched him from afar.

She looked at Ursula apprehensively.

"Could…could you really help me?" she asked.

"But how?"

Ursula smirked, knowing she got her right where she wanted her.

"Well…the only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself" she said.

Ariel gasped. Become a human?

"A human?" she asked.

"Can you do that?"

Ursula swam up to her and placed a hand on her face.

"My dear, sweet child…that's what I do" she cooed.

As they were talking, Flounder and Sebastian happened to walk in on their conversation and paled.

"Dis is terrible!" Sebastian cried.

"Flounder! You gotta do tell de King!"

Flounder went to head to the palace, but he found that they were blocked by Ursula's pet eels.

"Have we got a deal?" Ursula asked.

"I'll turn you into a human right now. All you have to do is sign a little contract"

"A contract?" Ariel asked.

Ursula nodded and summoned up a piece of parchment with writing on it.

"That's right, sweetcakes" she said.

"And the price is just a token. A trifle. What I want from you is…your voice"

Ariel's hand shot up to her throat.

Her voice was so important to her. She was the only one who sang so beautifully in Atlantica. But not only that, she wouldn't be able to talk to Eric.

"M-my voice?" she asked.

Ursula nodded.

"I almost forgot-the magic only lasts for three days" she said.

"You've got to get dear old prince to kiss you before the sun sets on the third day. If he doesn't, you turn back into a mermaid, and belong to me!"

Ariel gulped slightly. That was a lot to bargain for.

"I suppose you might find my terms a little tough" Ursula admitted.

"After all, you ARE King Triton's daughter. Adored by all of Atlantica! Why, you're practically guaranteed a happy life. Are you sure you won't listen to your daddy? All it'll cost you is your love. Come on, sweetie pie. This is your last chance. But be it far from little old me to twist your arm"

Ariel glared at the ground, remembering how he controlled her and said humans couldn't be trusted. She wasn't going to let him control her life any longer.

When Ursula didn't get a response, she started to swim away.

"Well, now" she said.

"I won't intrude any longer. I'll be on my way. You obviously don't want my help"

She smirked darkly.

"Too bad about your prince, though" she said.

"He IS quite a catch…"

"Wait!" Ariel said.

Ursula turned around to see Ariel look determined.

She swam up to her and held out the contract to her.

"All I have to do is sign?" Ariel asked.

Ursula nodded.

Ariel grabbed the pen and quickly signed her name.

Ursula grabbed the contract and rolled it up with a gleeful look in her eyes.

"We have a deal!" she said.

"Here you go!"

Flounder and Sebastian watched helplessly as their friend went through the transformation sequence.

"Ariel! Don't!" Flounder cried.

Just then, the group swam to see this happening.

"Sora! Hikari! Please!" Sebastian cried.

"You got to stop her, mon!"

Everyone gasped and quickly went to intervene.

"Wait!" Sora cried.

But it was too late. Ursula already took Ariel's voice as payment and turned the mermaid's fins into a set of legs.

The end result turned the mermaid into a human with rags covering her body. She struggled to move her new legs, but it wouldn't work. It also proved a problem since she couldn't breathe underwater anymore.

"Oh no! She can't breathe like that!" Hikari cried.

Sora and Hikari quickly grabbed her and brought her to the surface while Ursula laughed evilly.

The group didn't care at the moment. All they care about was saving their friend before she drowned as a human.

/

It was nighttime when Eric roamed around the beach. He still didn't give up on finding the girl who rescued him.

As he was walking, he noticed Ariel passed out on the beach.

He quickly ran up to her and lifted her up from the sand so he could see if she was alright. He noticed that when he looked at her, she looked at lot like the girl who saved her.

Could she be the one who saved him?

"Are you the girl?" he asked.

"Please wake up!"

Ariel's eyes fluttered open when she heard Eric's voice.

She looked startled that he was holding her and shot right up. Since she just got legs, she didn't know how to walk, let alone stand on them.

She staggered a bit and almost fell into the water, if Eric didn't grab her.

"Whoa, easy there!" he said.

Ariel blushed when she felt how close he was holding her.

She smiled and went to say something, but forgot that she didn't have a voice anymore.

Eric seemed to notice this as well.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"You can't speak?"

Ariel shook her head.

"Oh…well, where did you come from?" Eric asked.

Ariel looked over towards the rocks, where her friends were. She didn't want to give away that she came from the ocean or that she was a mermaid.

Instead, she distracted Eric by pulling out the pendant that wanted to return to him.

Eric looked surprised that she even had it.

"That's my pendant!" he said.

"I-I can't believe you found it. Thank you"

Ariel smiled, glad that she was able to make him happy.

"Please. Come with me" Eric said.

"I want to help you"

Ariel looked towards the rocks, where her friends gave her the thumbs up and decided to go with.

The group waved as she was lead away by Eric.

"We are so screwed" Hikari said through a forced smile.

"You got that right" Sora said.

"But then again, you did warn King Triton about this"

Hikari's smile fell.

"You know what they say, Karma's a bitch"

Since they couldn't trust Ursula, they decided to watch over Ariel while she was on land as a human. There was no way that they were going to stand by and let her become the sea witch's pawn.

/

The first day went by uneventful. It seemed that Eric decided to give Ariel a tour of his palace and walk her along the beach.

The group stayed behind a group of rocks and watched the couple.

"Looks like it's going pretty well" Sora said.

"But shouldn't we tell King Triton about this?" Goofy asked.

Hikari scoffed.

"Absolutely not!" Sebastian said.

He felt guilty for causing this mess, so decided to join with watching over Ariel.

"It would break his heart if he found out about dis" he said.

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't run your mouth off" Hikari pointed out.

"So what do we do?" Donald asked.

"We gonna stay right here and take care of Ariel" Sebastian said.

"Dat's what we gonna do"

"I guess that's all we CAN do" Sora admitted.

They watched the couple picking up a few seashells as they walked.

"So we just float here and watch?" Donald asked.

"Have you got a better idea?" Sebastian shot back.

"We could make Ursula fix this" Sora pointed out.

Sebastian shook his head.

"Hah! She ain't gonna bother wid you!" he said.

"Hey, you never know until you try" Goofy pointed out.

Hikari shrugged and just watched the couple.

Seeing them smiling at each other triggered a memory to flash through her head.

/

_Leon and Hikari walked through the market place one day to get ice cream._

_Hikari sighed a little as Leon held her hand._

"_Ni-san, you don't have to hold my hand" she said._

_Leon snorted and just kept walking._

"_It gets really busy at the market place" he said._

"_I don't want you to get lost" he said._

_Hikari just sighed._

"_Then I want an ice cream cone" she said._

_Leon smirked._

"_You got it"_

_As they were walking, they spotted a very familiar couple walking around the market._

_Taiyouko and Xehanort walked hand in hand as they view some of the booths. _

_Leon growled when he saw their mother smiling at their father._

_Taiyouko smiled brightly and rubbed her face against Xehanort's arm. Xehanort smiled softly and placed a flower that he bought for her in her hair. _

_Taiyouko looked surprised, but she smiled anyway._

_The sight made Leon sick to his stomach. _

_He gently pulled Hikari along so they could head home._

"_Come on, let's go" he said._

_Hikari looked surprised and disappointed at the same time._

"_But what about our ice cream?" she asked._

_Leon just looked ahead with a grim expression._

"_I'm sure we have some at home"_

/

Hikari growled at the memory.

After finding out that Xemnas was her dad, she didn't want to remember anything about him.

The guys looked at her nervously when they saw the look on her face.

"Um…Hikari?" Sora said.

Hikari didn't say anything.

Instead, she just dove back into the water so she wouldn't have to deal with her friends.

"What's with her?" Donald asked.

"Must be girl trouble" Flounder said.

/

On the second evening, Eric decided to take Ariel out on a little boat ride together.

Ariel's face was glowing as she sat close to her crush. They had been getting along real well together, even though she couldn't talk.

The group joined Flounder as he watched over them.

"Hey, where's Sebastian?" Hikari asked.

Flounder looked at them nervously.

"Uhh…oh…well…King Triton wanted him at the palace" he said.

Everyone gulped at that.

Since the crab couldn't keep his mouth shut, they feared he would spill about Ariel.

"I wonder if it's about Ariel?" Goofy asked.

"If King Triton finds out about this, we're in hot water" Sora said.

"Especially since we kept it a secret" Hikari added.

"What about Ursula?" Flounder asked.

Since she was the one who did this to Ariel, the group tried to track her down so she could undo the spell.

So far, she was a no-show.

"She disappeared" Donald said.

"Well, how's Ariel?" Hikari asked.

"She's only got until sunset tomorrow, right?"

She was hoping that Ariel got her wish. Like her, she wanted to be with the one she loved most.

Ariel was able to get through magic, but for her, she had to work her way at finding Riku. She knew it was difficult at times, but she knew the end results would be rewarding.

"_If you keep fighting for what you want, you're sure to get it" _she thought.

"Hey look!" Flounder said.

The group watched at Ariel and Eric were about to kiss. If they kissed, then Ariel would be able to stay with Eric forever.

Sora quickly covered Flounder's eyes, knowing he was too young to see this.

"I can't see!" the fish cried.

Everyone watched hopefully as their faces grew closer and closer together.

Just as their lips were about to touch, their boat jostled them, breaking the magic moment. Little did anyone know that it was Ursula's eels who were the culprits.

"Man…they were so close" Sora said.

"Well, they still have until tomorrow" Hikari pointed out.

"I think we oughta get back to lookin' for Ursula" Goofy pointed out.

"Good idea" Sora said.

They all dived back into the water for their search for the sea witch, unaware of the outcomes of tomorrows events.

/

The next day at sunset, the group went back to the surface to see how Ariel was doing.

"No sign on Ursula" Sora said.

"I wonder where that sea witch coulda gone?" Goofy asked.

"Does it really matter?" Hikari asked.

"Since it's the last day, she really can't do anything. I bet Ariel and that prince have already kissed"

But the sight that they saw on the beach proved them otherwise.

There, on the beach was Ariel as she cried into her knees.

Flounder looked at his friends sadly when they came to see what was wrong.

"Ariel's been crying for a long time" he said.

That didn't seem right. Why would she be crying if she was going to become a human and stay with Eric.

They got their answer when they saw Eric walking alongside another girl singing. The way she sung was very familiar.

As Eric got closer, they noticed that his eyes were glossy.

"Hey, what's up with the prince?" Sora asked.

Flounder pointed to the necklace that the woman was wearing and notice it was the shell necklace that Ursula used to capture Ariel's voice.

"It's Ursula!" Flounder cried.

"She…she must've turned herself into that girl!"

So that's why they couldn't find her. She turned into the woman so Ariel wouldn't be able to get her wish and so she could become the sea witch's pawn.

"Ok, that's it!" Sora cried.

He aimed his keyblade at the witch and broke her necklace with his magic. When he did that, Ariel's voice returned to her.

"Hah! In your face, bitch!" Hikari said to Ursula.

The trance around Eric was lifted as well. He held his head slightly.

"What…what happened?" he asked.

Ariel stood up and ran towards him.

"Eric!" she cried.

Eric was surprised that she could talk, but was happy nonetheless.

"You…you can talk…" he said.

"You're the one…the girl who sang to me"

Ariel looked at him sadly.

"Oh, Eric, I wanted to tell you" she said.

Eric smiled.

"Of course!" he said.

"It was you! You're the one who…who saved me that night from the storm!"

Ariel nodded.

Eric just smiled and held her close to him.

"Oh, Ariel" he said.

"I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. You're the one I love"

"Eric…" Ariel said softly.

Everyone got teary eyed at the scene. It looks Ariel got her happy ending.

"Not so fast!"

Everyone turned to see Ursula back to her regular from.

She looked like she was fuming. Her plans were ruined thanks to the keyblade master's, but she wasn't going to give up so easily.

Ariel didn't kiss Eric yet, so that meant she was still in the sea witch's clutches.

She lunged at Ariel and dragged her into the ocean.

"Ariel!" Eric cried.

The group quickly went back into the ocean to stop Ursula before it was too late.

/

With Ariel back in the ocean, that meant the spell wore off on her and she was once a mermaid again.

Ursula dragged her towards her grotto, where she would join the rest of the souls she tricked.

"Stop!" Sora cried.

Ursula glared at them.

"Stay out of this, you fools!" she snapped.

She held up the contract.

"Triton's precious little daughter signed a contract!"

She looked at Ariel.

"Now, dearie…let's see how beautiful you are when I'm through with you"

Hikari glared at the sea witch. How dare she interfere with Ariel's happy ending.

"That contract is no good!" she snapped.

"Let her go!"

Everyone jumped when they saw King Triton standing before them with Sebastian in tow.

Sora and Hikari sighed.

For once, they were glad the crab opened his big mouth.

The ruler of the sea was full of fury as he looked at Ursula. He aimed his trident at the contract and tried to blast it away, but it stayed intact.

Ursula just laughed darkly.

"Now, now-even the great King Triton can't go around breaking binding contracts" she said.

"Why, it just wouldn't do, would it?"

She went up to Ariel.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some lose ends to tie up" she said.

Just as she was about to finish off Ariel, Triton held his hand up.

"Wait, Ursula!" he said.

"You win. Just promise you'll let my daughter go"

Ursula smirked darkly, liking where this was going.

"But we had a deal-unless of course, you're offering to take her place?" she cooed.

Triton's face was grim as he looked at the contract.

"I'm afraid…I have no choice" he said.

He signed his name where Ariel's once stood and completed the deed.

Ursula laughed darkly when the contract took into effect. The once mighty ruler of the sea was transformed into a weak, puny plant like being.

The sight tore everyone's hearts.

Ursula picked up the discarded crown and Trident.

"At last!" she hissed.

"Who's the 'mighty ruler' of the seas now?"

Ariel had tears in her eyes at the sight of her father.

"You-you monster! Let him go!" she cried.

Ursula scoffed at her.

Before she could say anything, a harpoon nicked her on the shoulder.

When everyone looked up, they were surprised to see that Eric had swam after them to save Ariel.

"Eric!" Ariel cried.

"Wow. Now that's dedication" Hikari said.

The guys nodded.

Ursula glared at Eric.

"How dare you!" she hissed.

"Pitiful, insignificant humans!"

She sent her eels at him when Eric swam for the surface.

Sora and the others quickly blocked them.

"That's enough!" Sora cried.

"Who wants fried eel?" Hikari asked as she charged a fire spell with her keyblade.

Ursula laughed darkly as the power of the trident ran through her veins.

"Now you all bow to me!" she cried.

She grew bigger and bigger as the trident's powers went through her.

Ariel and the others swam to the surface to help Eric before Ursula did anything.

/

Ariel and Eric held onto each other tightly when they saw Ursula towering over the ocean. The sight of her was enough to freeze them in their tracks.

However, they started to swim away when she went to smash them with her tentacles.

The evil sea witch smirked darkly as she started to sing.

"_This witch is back to bring her wrath upon the sea._

_Triton can't get rid of me, not that easily._

_And like all who dare defy me, he will learn his lesson well:_

_Never toy with a girl like me"_

Sora and the others glared at Ursula.

"You got what you deserved!" Sora shouted.

"You're just a sore loser!" Hikari added.

Ursula just waved them off and had her eels drag the keyblade masters down.

"_Flotsam and Jetsam!_

_Loyal darlings, strong as the tide._

_Sweetest poopsies, hasten to my side_

_Right now! Mommy needs you._

_Crush those stupid fools, make the writhe!"_

Donald and Goofy quickly set them free and watched as the eels tried to get away.

"I don' t think so!" Sora cried.

He and Hikari blasted a spell at them and watched as they exploded like fireworks.

"Alright!" Hikari cried.

Back up on the surface, Eric tried to swim away, but got hit by one of Ursula's tentacles and went flying. Luckily, he landed on the boat that he brought with carefully and landed on his feet.

"_What a feeble human._

_No, I can't believe my eyes_

_Such a stubborn royal who is fighting for his prize_

_Without your precious mermaid now you're crazy for revenge_

_I suppose I sympathize"_

Eric glared when he saw Ursula trying to attack Ariel.

"I'm not going to lose her!" he declared.

"Right!" Sora said.

"We're with you all the way!"

Donald and Goofy jumped out the water so they could hit Ursula in the face while Sora and Hikari tried to shoot her with their keyblades.

The evil sea witch just laughed as she blocked them with her trident.

"_Flotsam and Jetsam!_

_Loyal darlings, strong as the tide._

_Sweetest poopies, hasten to my side_

_Right now! Mommy needs you_

_Smash those stupid fools, make them writhe!"_

"Sorry 'mommy'" Hikari scoffed.

"Your poopies are toast!"

Ursula growled when she heard that.

She swung the trident at them, but they just ducked.

"_This is not the end, my dears_

_I've swear I've just begun._

_It's not over until Ursula has won!"_

Sora and Hikari jumped out of the water.

"That's what you think!" Sora cried.

They swung their keyblades and smacked her wrist, causing her to drop the trident.

It went flying and landed on Eric's boat with a 'thud'.

Ursula looked at it with horror.

"No…it's not possible!" she cried.

"It's over, Ursula" Hikari said as they landed back in the water.

"That belongs to me!" Ursula cried.

Eric glared at her and picked up the trident.

"Alright then- you can have it!"

He threw it at her like a harpoon and smirked when it went right through her.

The sea witch screamed as her body sunk into the ocean's depths forever.

With Ursula destroyed, the spell binding Triton was broken and he was able to return to his normal self.

He smiled as he picked up his trident, feeling the powers rush through him.

/

It was nighttime once the oceans calmed down.

Ariel looked up at Eric sadly as he stood on his boat.

He held out his hand towards her.

"Please, Ariel…you can come out now-it's ok" Eric insisted.

Everyone watched their friend sadly.

How were they suppose to explain to Eric that the woman he loved most was really a mermaid?

Ariel looked away from a moment before diving into the ocean.

Eric was stunned at first, but gasped when he saw her jump out of the water and revealed her secret.

When she resurface, she closed her eyes sadly.

"You see, Eric…this is why I went to Ursula" she said.

Eric looked at her sadly. This was overwhelming him.

"This can't be…" he said.

Ariel looked at him sadly.

"I would have told you sooner…" she said.

Eric placed a hand on his neck.

"To think…" he said.

Ariel closed turned around, thinking that he didn't love her anymore, now that he knew she wasn't human.

"I'm sorry" she said.

She started to swim, but Eric stopped her.

"I had all this time and I didn't work on my swimming" he finished.

Ariel gasped and looked at him.

Eric smiled and jumped off the boat to swim towards her.

"Well, I guess it's never too late to learn, right?" he said.

"Will you teach me?"

Ariel smiled brightly, overwhelmed at the fact that Eric still loved her, despite being a mermaid.

"I'd love to!" she said.

The group smiled when they saw the couple hugging.

"Alright!" Sora cheered.

Little did anyone know that King Triton saw the whole thing unfold.

He sunk underwater, pondering over his thought about humans.

/

With the Ursula out of the picture, Atlantica was safe and sound.

Not only that, but Ariel was able to get her happy ending with Eric.

"Prince Eric's a great guy-and he's really brave, too" Sora said.

"Yes. But he IS a human" Sebastian pointed out.

"You still going on about that?" Donald asked.

Ariel swam up to them with a smile on her face.

"How'd it go with your father, Ariel?" Hikari asked.

"Great!" Ariel said.

"Thanks to your help! He also wanted to thank you, Hikari"

Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"What did I do?" she asked.

Ariel shrugged.

"He said something about you were right about what you said and that , made him realize he was wrong"

Hikari laughed nervously, remembering how she talked back to a king.

"_I am SO dead" _she thought.

"I gotta go" Ariel said.

"I'll see you later"

They all watched as she swam to the surface to be with Eric.

"I almost forgot , Sebastian" Flounder said.

"King Triton said this year's festival is so important that the musical better be your best ever!"

"My best ever?" Sebastian asked.

He looked at the group.

"All right, what's going on?" Sora asked.

"You gotta do me a favor" Sebastian said.

He went over to them and whispered his idea.

Everyone's eyes bugged out when they heard it.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Hikari added.

"And it was gonna make de song perfect, too…" Sebastian said.

"Not to mention you all have to sing your heart songs in the musical too"

Everyone sighed, remembering that they had a song about what their heart was feeling.

"I guess we have no choice" Sora said.

"Looks like we got a lot of practice to do" Donald said.

They promised Sebastian that they would help and left to go see what other worlds needed from them, all the while thinking about their heart songs.

/

**A/N: I hoped you all enjoyed this! I know it wasn't much, but then again, this world doesn't give much.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	33. Agrabah part 2

Chapter 33: Agrabah part 2

**A/N: We're almost reaching the end of this story! Can you believe it? It's both exciting and sad at the same time because this is my favorite story of the series. Hopefully the ones that follow it will be just as good.**

**Just bear in mind that the fighting scene in this chapter might suck for obvious reasons. There really wasn't much to do with this world since the only way to fight Jafar is by carpet, and let's face it, you can only go so far with flying on a carpet.**

**I also have more fanart of Hikari up. Now you can see what her forms should look like. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"I'm really glad that Ariel was able to be together with the prince" Donald said.

Everyone smiled at that. They were so happy for their mermaid friend.

"Yeah. It makes me think that I'll find Riku sooner or later" Hikari said.

"After seeing Ariel being with the one she loves, it makes me want to find the one I love most even more"

Sora smiled softly at that. He was thinking the same thing for Kairi. He hoped and prayed that the Organization didn't do anything to her and that he would find her soon. But seeing Hikari look so determined to find Riku motivated him. After everything Riku did, after nearly falling into the darkness, she never gave up on him and continued her quest to find him.

That was true dedication right there. It made him wonder if Riku was doing the same thing for her. He knew his best friend was in love with her, even before he knew it himself. Everyone could tell by the way he acted around the young sorceress. He wasn't as cocky as he usually was and he tended to let Hikari win in a race, even though he always enjoyed winning himself.

It was amazing what the heart did when it was in love. It totally changed the way a person usually acted.

"_Who knows" _Sora thought.

"_Maybe they were destined for each other"_

/

Deep within the cells of Agrabah, the street merchant trembled as he watched black smoke erupt from the magic lamp that he stumbled upon.

A very familiar lamp.

The genie that came out of it had a malicious looking smile on his face as he was released from his prison.

Iago happened to be flying by, just to see if Jafar's lamp was still locked up. When he heard evil laughter, he crept closer to see what was going on, and gasped in horror when he saw his old master free from his lamp.

Jafar laughed as he basked in his new freedom. Now he could get his revenge on Aladdin once and for all. He just needed to come up with a plan.

When he spotted Iago, an idea suddenly came to his head.

The parrot let out a cry as the evil genie reached for him.

/

The group arrived at the merchant's little shop when they made it to Agrabah. They were expecting to see the same old, dirty, dilapidated and smelly hut, but were surprised to see everything lined in gold and jewels.

Donald was so surprised that he bumped into an expensive vase and nearly made it topple over.

The merchant came running towards them.

"You break it, you buy it!" he declared.

But when he saw who they were, he suddenly smiled.

"Oh! Hello there, friends" he said.

Everyone just gave him an awkward wave. They never really considered him as a friend since he gave them such a hard time buying Jafar's lamp.

"Wow. You made out like a bandit!" Sora said as he looked around the small hut.

The merchant smiled.

"Please…I am but an honest merchant" he said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that" Hikari said skeptically.

The merchant placed his hands on his hips.

"What you see is merely the reward for my hard work" he insisted.

"They sure are nice" Goofy admitted.

"And they're on sale!" The Merchant said.

"Interested?"

Donald was about to say something, but Sora stepped on his foot to shut him up.

"No thanks" he said.

"Listen, have you seen a guy in a black coat? Someone from Organization Xlll?"

With the Organization running around, who knows where they would be next.

The merchant shook his head.

"Who me? Most certainly not" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Okay. We'll keep asking around, then" she said to the group.

Just as they were about to leave, Aladdin, Iago and Abu came running in. they skidded so a stop when they saw their friends.

"Sora! Hikari! Don't let him get away!" Aladdin cried.

They turned around and saw that the Merchant was gone.

Aladdin sighed in frustration.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

Aladdin looked at them.

"Can't believe it…" he said.

"That stupid peddler let Jafar out of the lamp!"

"Jafar!" everyone cried.

Memories of him trying to take over Agrabah flashed through their heads. Hikari shivered as she remembered the pot centipede.

"You guys better be careful" Aladdin warned.

"Why?" Donald asked.

"I'm sure Jafar wants to take over Agrabah again" Aladdin said.

"But I know he's out for revenge, too"

"I guess he's still sore about that whole lamp thing, huh" Sora said.

"I'm sure you would be too if you were trapped within a lamp for nearly over a year" Hikari pointed out.

"Iago was there when Jafar was released" Aladdin said.

Everyone turned to the parrot.

"Okay, Iago. Spill it"

The parrot looked frazzled about the whole situation.

"Hey! I told you everything I know!" he insisted.

Aladdin glared at the bird.

"This is your one and only chance, Iago" he warned.

"If I find out later that you've been lying or hiding things from us, we're through. I'll never speak to you again"

Hikari sweat dropped when she heard that.

"_He's making it sound like they're a couple or something" _she thought.

Iago gulped.

"I can't take it!" he cried.

"I know where Jafar is!"

"Where?" Goofy asked.

Iago looked around nervously.

"Uh, er, I mean, that is, I, um…I really shouldn't…"

"Iago!" Aladdin warned.

The parrot made a small 'epp' noise.

"He's in the desert ruins" he said immediately.

Sora and the others looked determined.

"Let's get the jump on him" he said.

"Lead the way!"

They followed the parrot out of the hut and began their search for the evil genie.

/

"Hey, Sora" Hikari said quietly as they ran through the streets of Agrabah.

"What?" Sora asked.

Hikari kept her eyes on Iago as they ran.

"Don't you find it a little odd that it was Iago that saw Jafar come out of the lamp and that he knows where he is?"

Sora mulled over that. She did have a point. Iago did serve for Jafar on their last journey here. Sure, he might have helped them out before, but who's to say that he was really playing the good guy until his master returned?

"I do find it a little odd that he would know all of this" he admitted.

"But surely he's on our side"

Hikari didn't say anything as she ran.

"Let's hope so" she said quietly.

Sora looked at her.

"Anyway, did you take that potion before we came here?" he asked.

"Since we're probably going to fight Jafar, we're bound to be doing a lot of fighting"

Hikari groaned as she pulled the bottle out. She almost forgot about taking it with all the excitement from Atlantica.

She noticed that she was almost out of the potion.

"_Better ration out the rest while I still can" _she thought.

"_I'll be needing it when I fight the Organization"_

/

When they reached the outskirts palace walls, Iago pointed towards the direction where Jafar was at. The only place he really could be around here was somewhere in the desert.

The only problem though was that part of the desert was suffering from a sandstorm.

"What a disaster!" Iago said.

Everyone noticed that he seemed a little relieved.

"We're just gonna hafta turn back"

Hikari gave the parrot a dull glare.

"We're not gonna leave after just coming here" she said.

"Besides, we've come too far to quit now"

Donald rolled his eyes when he heard her use her favorite catchphrase.

"There's gotta be a way…" Aladdin said.

"Aw, c'mon kid, that's an easy one!"

Genie magically appeared before them with a bright smile on his face.

"Al, ol' buddy, ol' pal!" he said.

"This is what having a genie for a best friend is all about! I mean, how can you leave me on the sidelines in a time like this? Live large! Wow'em, Al. Give 'em the old razzmatazz! What do ya say, kid?"

Everyone sweat dropped when they saw how enthusiastic Genie was about this.

"Hey, Genie" Sora said.

Genie looked at his friends with a bright smile on his face.

"Sora! Hikari!"

He went over to them and draped an arm across their shoulders.

"Wanna see something I call 'Sandstorm Sweep'?" he asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Take it away, Genie" Aladdin said.

Genie smiled and cracked his knuckles.

"Here goes nothing!"

He was got himself all set for a mega sandstorm, but when he saw the one that they were pointing at, he frowned.

"You know? One lousy sandstorm is just too easy" he said.

He snapped his fingers and had the sandstorm magically disappear.

"Maybe next time, we'll have something hard for you to do" Hikari said.

Genie just disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"How about giving me a challenge next time, eh Al?" he called out.

Iago nervously looked around when the sandstorm was lifted.

"Now that, that's out of the way, let's move out" Aladdin said.

Everyone headed towards the now storm free portion of the desert.

/

When they made it to their destination, they were surprised to see what was in front of them. The whole area looked like an abandoned, dilapidated ruin of some sort of palace. Walls were half buried into the sand while others barely reached the surface.

There was a steep ledge that would be fatal if one of them jumped.

"Now what do we do?" Aladdin asked.

Just then, Aladdin's magic carpet flew right towards them.

"Nice timing, carpet" Sora said.

Hikari got a little nervous when Sora jumped onto carpet. The last time that she was on it, she nearly fell off and had to be rescued by Donald.

Sora turned to her and held out his hand.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?"

Hikari knew she wasn't going to get out of this, so she swallowed her nerves and slowly got on.

"If I fall off, I'm going to kill you" she warned.

She steadied herself before carpet took off.

As they got closer to the ruins, they saw Jafar floating a little away from them. Upon closer inspection, they noticed he didn't look like himself, but rather more crystallized.

"This is probably his magic" Hikari said.

"Be on your guard"

They flew closer to him.

The evil vizier noticed them and summoned a few heartless before disappearing.

"Oh, this can't be good" Hikari said.

Sora kept himself steady as he stood on carpet while he gripped his keyblade.

"This might be a little tricky" he admitted.

Hikari sighed, knowing that Sora couldn't fight the heartless on his own. Looking down at carpet, she gave the rug a stern glare.

"You drop us and I'll turn you into thread" she warned.

She slowly got up and held her keyblade out.

Fighting the heartless proved to be a bit of a challenge. Since they didn't want to land physical blows, in fear of falling off, they had to lean towards magic.

Carpet kept its word and made sure Sora and Hikari didn't fall off. Whenever one of them staggered a bit, carpet shimmied a bit to make them stagger towards the other direction.

When the heartless were gone, they played a little game of hide-and-seek looking for Jafar. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack with all of the ruins all over the place.

When they finally found him, they began chasing him all over the place. It was like being on a roller coaster ride with the way carpet kept zipping and turning at certain points. Sora got a little green while Hikari gripped their flying friend for dear life.

They finally cornered Jafar at a tower that was still in tack despite being in a sand storm.

"End of the line, pal!" Sora said.

Jafar just snapped his fingers and had heartless appear before disappearing.

"Coward!" Hikari cried.

They quickly got rid of the heartless before more showed up.

When they did, a strange switch magically appeared on top of the tower.

"What's that?"

Carpet flew them towards it so they could get a better look.

Hikari jumped off and examined the switch better.

"Maybe it opens up the tower?" she suggested.

She placed her hand on it and used her memory abilities to see what it was. It was a switch alright, but in order to open the door, they had to find three sets of stones and activate them with magic in order for the door to open. Hikari was able to see where the stones were and what spell to use on them.

She quickly got on carpet again and told Sora what they had to do.

"You take care of the heartless while I take care of the stones" she said.

Sora nodded and braced himself as carpet flew them towards where the stones were.

It was tricky trying to cast spells on the stones because they would always change their element. One second they would hint towards fire and then the next it would be blizzard.

It took a lot out of Hikari to not just blast them with her sorceress magic.

When the stones were finally activated, the door to the tower opened for them to enter.

"I bet that's where Jafar is hiding" Sora said.

"Only one way to find out" Hikari replied.

They quickly flew towards the tower to finally stop Jafar once and for all.

/

Everyone ran into the last room that was still intact. (A/N: how the others managed to get there is beyond me)

Everyone pulled out their weapons and scanned the room for Jafar.

"The game's up, Jafar!" Sora cried.

They looked around the room some more and found that the evil vizier was not here.

Aladdin looked at Iago.

"You sure this is it?" he asked.

The parrot flew towards a broken table and looked away nervously.

Hikari noticed that he was acting really strangely. Everyone noticed it as well and gave him a look.

Iago couldn't take it anymore and caved in.

"Ya gotta understand. It wasn't my idea!" he pleaded.

"It was Jafar. He made me bring you here. You don't know him like I do! He can be VERY convincing!"

Everyone was fuming at this point.

So this was all a setup? Iago acted like he was on their side, but in reality he was working for Jafar.

Iago bowed to the desperately.

"He said if I didn't cooperate, he was gonna-"

"Where is he?" Aladdin snapped.

He just about had it with the little parrot. He was willing to give him a chance to consider him as a comrade, and he just threw it away to save his own skin.

Iago gulped when he saw the looks he was given.

"C'mon Al, you've gotta forgive me" he pleaded.

"Where's Jafar?"

Iago jumped at the harshness in Aladdin's voice.

"Well…um, let's see…right about now, he's probably attacking the palace"

Everyone paled at that.

While they were off on their little goose chase, Jafar was wreaking havoc on Agrabah and possibly trying to take over the throne.

"I had no choice!" Iago cried.

"His eyes, they got all creepy and WEIRD!"

"Whatever" Sora scoffed.

"Iago, you're supposed to be our friend!"

"But you've been playing on both sides, just to make sure you save yourself" Hikari snapped.

"You're more of a chicken than a parrot at this point"

"I knew you were still a bad guy!" Donald added.

Iago backed away from them.

"I'm sorry!" he cried.

As he flew backwards, he knocked over this strange looking vase and caused it to shatter.

The tower started to shake and caused rose rubble to fall on them.

Carpet flew towards them and gestured for them to hop on.

"Let's go!" Aladdin cried.

Everyone quickly got on and flew out of the tower before it crumbled on them.

Carpet flew like it was on fire as they flew around the ruins.

Hikari whimpered and clung on for dear life as they flipped and turned.

"This is like the Cave of Wonders all over again!" she cried.

Sora didn't say anything because he was thinking the same thing.

Everyone screamed as carpet dived deeply before pulling up real fast.

When they got closer to Agrabah, everyone cheering, knowing that the crazy ride was over.

/

When they reached the palace gates, carpet landed on the ground in a flimsy manner.

"Get some rest, Carpet" Aladdin said.

"You earned it"

Carpet gave them a mock salute before laying on the ground.

"C'mon, let's get Jafar!" Iago cried.

Everyone scoffed at the parrot. They weren't going to trust him after the little stunt he just pulled.

"And who asked you?" Sora asked.

Aladdin just ignored them and looked at the gates.

"The palace is through there. Hurry!"

They quickly ran through the gates and headed towards the palace.

"I guess you were right about Iago, Hikari" Sora said.

Hikari just sighed as they ran.

"Yeah, but I wish that I wasn't" she said.

As they ran, they saw the merchant.

"There's the merchant!" Goofy said.

"Get him!" Donald cried.

They surrounded the merchant so he wouldn't escape. The tiny man sighed in defeat when he knew that he wouldn't get away.

"I guess you know everything now, eh?" he asked.

"You can't keep shady stuff secret for long" Sora said.

"So true" the merchant admitted.

"I had just snuck into the Palace to, er, borrow some treasure when I heard this…voice. It said: 'release me, and I will give you an even greater reward'. 'Who are you?' I asked. The voice spoke again. 'The true Sultan of Agrabah' he said. 'Imprisoned by villains'"

He shook his head sadly.

"Oh! Why did I believe such a tall, tall tale?" he asked.

"Perhaps I was under Jafar's spell. Yes! That must be it!"

Everyone gave him a skeptical look.

"And I'm sure the treasure had nothing to do with it, right?" she asked.

The merchant fiddled his fingers.

"Maybe a little" he admitted.

"But Jafar, he never gave me a thing…"

"So where did you get all your treasure?" Sora asked.

The merchant smiled.

"Why, the man in the black coat, of course" he said.

Everyone paled at that.

"Organization Xlll?"

Hikari kicked over a set of crates.

So her dad was behind this after all.

"I KNEW it!" she screamed.

Her dad bribed the merchant with treasure just so he could get what he wanted.

The merchant waved his hands in front of him.

"The treasure was a gift, so I would tell no one about Jafar's return" he said.

"He said he would destroy Jafar after turning him into a…'heartless'. So there was no need to upset Agrabah"

Hikari glared at the merchant. Didn't he realize that he just helped his father get further into his plans.

"And you bought that?" she snapped.

"I'm a merchant" the merchant merely replied.

"And a good one at that. I'll buy anything if the price is right. It would have been a successful transaction if I hadn't been seen…"

Everyone had heard enough of this.

"We're wasting time" Aladdin said.

"We need to stop Jafar"

Everyone nodded. They got all the information that they needed.

Just before Hikari left, she turned towards the merchant. She gave him an icy glare. Since he willingly worked with her father, he was going to pay.

She got up into his face and made sure she creped him out.

"Let me give you a warning for down the road" she said.

"The next time you think about 'borrowing' someone's treasure"

She held her keyblade to his face.

"That person will want to 'borrow' your life in return"

The merchant gulped and nodded.

Hikari smirked before running after the others to stop Jafar.

/

Right in front of the Palace, Jafar stood with Jasmine as his hostage.

The princess of heart was chained to the palace doors so she couldn't escape. She pulled at her chains in a feeble attempt and glared at Jafar.

"Just wait, Jafar!" she cried.

"You'll get exactly what's coming to you!"

Jafar smirked darkly.

"Indeed I will, princess" he said.

He got real close to her face.

"All of Agrabah will belong to me, while you…you, my queen, shall weep at my side for all eternity!"

Jasmine looked over Jafar's shoulder hopefully in case Aladdin was coming.

Jafar noticed this and just laughed.

"Oh, please" he said as he held her chin.

"Right about now…your precious Aladdin is whispering your name, with his last breath"

Jasmine pulled out of his grip. As she did, she smiled when she saw Aladdin and the others standing in front of them.

Jafar looked and scoffed darkly. So his plan failed.

"What was that you were saying, Jafar?" Aladdin asked.

Iago, who was hiding behind Goofy nervously looked at Jafar.

The evil vizier glared daggers, realizing that he was the reason why his plan failed.

"You dare defy me! You useless bird!" he cried.

He held up his scepter and aimed it at Iago, but changed it at the last second and aimed it at Aladdin. Magic shot out from the scepter's eyes and went flying towards him.

Iago saw this and quickly jumped into action.

"AL!"

He flew just in time to take the hit and got zapped instead. The poor parrot fell to the ground lifelessly.

Everyone was stunned to see what Iago had just done. He had saved Aladdin's life when moments ago he was working for Jafar.

"Iago!" Goofy cried.

"You'll all be joining him…" Jafar said.

"VERY soon!"

Darkness surrounded him as he transformed into his genie like state. The evil vizier towered over the palace as he grew and caused parts of the palace to break off.

Everyone screamed when they saw one of the palace's pillars came falling down towards them. It would be pointless to run at this point because they would have been crushed anyway.

When all hoped seemed lost, carpet appeared out nowhere and managed to get everyone out of harm's way before it was too late.

Jafar towered over Agrabah as he cast his magic at anything that he could get his hands on.

Sora and Hikari held onto Carpet tightly as it flew them towards Jafar. The only way that they would be able to defeat him was if they were at his level. And the only way they could do that was if they flew.

"Oh, I do not like where this is heading" Hikari said.

Sora gulped and gripped his keyblade tightly.

"I'm with you on that" he said.

Jafar spotted them and threw parts of the palace at them.

Sora quickly tugged on Carpet and made the rug turn sharply. As he did that, Hikari almost fell off and had to hold onto the rug for dear life.

"Sora!" Hikari snapped.

The keyblade master gave her a sheepish grin.

"It was the only way to prevent us from getting hit" he said.

Hikari just grumbled at that.

"I'll get you for this when this is over" she said.

Jafar just growled and threw more parts of the palace at them.

Carpet managed to dodge them in time and managed to get closer to the evil genie. Jafar tried keeping them at bay with his magic, but Hikari was able to counteract it.

"How are we suppose to get him if he keeps throwing spells as us?" she asked.

Sora saw that Jafar's stomach wasn't being protected and got an idea.

"Like this!"

He flung his keyblade like a boomerang and got Jafar hard in the gut.

The evil genie keeled over in pain and was stunned long enough for them to do some serious damage to him.

"Time to do inflict some pain" Hikari said.

She used some of her strongest magic by throwing pillars of light at Jafar. That didn't stop the genie since he was able to get back to his senses and wreak havoc on them some more.

Carpet flew them away from him as he tried to slammed them to the ground with his hand.

"You won't escape me" he hissed.

Sora spotted Jafar's tail and got an idea.

"No, but we can have you wrapped around our fingers" he said.

He grabbed his tail and spun him around like a top.

Jafar got dizzy from the spinning and was stunned once more.

"Let's get this over with" Hikari said.

"I'm getting nervous flying on carpet for so long"

Sora nodded in response.

Going at full strength, the keyblade masters went into their limit break modes and attacked Jafar like a bunch of mad men. They didn't let up as they kept hitting the genie with their keyblades until Jafar couldn't take anymore.

When they landed the final blow, Jafar's body started to react strangely. The magic within him zapped and made his body shake.

Jafar looked at himself in horror.

"No…how I BE defeated again, by a pack of filthy street rats?" he cried.

Sora and Hikari gave him a determined look.

"Don't mess with street rats!" Sora retorted.

They flew off quickly just as Jafar exploded into a million particles. His lamp that he was trapped in faded to the darkness, never to be seen or heard of again.

/

With the evil Vizier gone for good, Agrabah was safe again…well, sort of.

Thanks to him transforming into a genie, he had pretty much destroyed half of the town, including the palace.

"Looks like that's that" Sora said.

Genie came out of nowhere and started throwing a fit.

"You went mano a mano with Jafar, and you didn't invite me, Al?" he cried.

Aladdin gave his friend a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Genie. Things happened kinda fast" he said.

Genie crossed his arms and stuck out his lip.

"And I had some new moves to show off, too…" he said.

"But, Genie, we still need your help!" Donald said.

"Who's gonna fix Agrabah?" Sora asked.

Genie smiled at the thought of being able to help out and use his skills.

"One super-duper spruced-up Agrabah comin' right up!" he said.

"You won't even recognize the place when I'm through with it!"

Aladdin just gave his friend an easy going smile.

"Just like it was, please" he asked.

Genie sighed.

"Really? Same old same old?"

Everyone nodded.

Genie shrugged.

"All right" he said.

He waved his arms and had everything get put back together again.

"Et voila!" Genie cried as he left.

"Next time let me put in a few swimming pools, 'kay?"

The group just smiled at that before they looked at each other.

"I guess Agrabah's alright now" Sora said.

"Yeah!" Aladdin said.

"Thanks, guys"

Everyone looked at Iago, who managed to recover from his injuries from Jafar.

"Hey, you behave yourself, got it?" Hikari warned.

The parrot nodded.

"I most definitely got it" he said.

"No more lookin' out for number one. I'm reformed!"

He flew towards them, but with great difficulty since he wasn't at a hundred percent yet.

"I wanna be a good friend, like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you" he said.

"What kind of a friend is that?"

Sora and Hikari gave him a reassuring smile.

"Oh, no-it's not like that, Iago" Sora said.

"Friends don't have to 'do' stuff"

"As long as you have fun hanging out together, that's all that matters" Hikari added.

Aladdin looked at them.

"So…what do you guys do for fun?" he asked.

Donald and Goofy suddenly made some funny faces.

"We do this!" Donald said.

Aladdin sweat dropped.

"Uh…that's not quite what I meant" he said.

Sora rubbed his head.

"Well, anyway…" he said.

Iago rubbed his beak.

"Ow, my beak" he groaned.

Goofy went up to him.

"Gawrsh, Iago" he said.

"I hope ya didn't hurt yourself"

Iago shrugged.

"Well…at least I can still fly" he admitted.

As he was flying, Goofy walked underneath him in case the parrot keeled over and had to be rescued. Goofy was so caught up in looking at Iago, that he didn't notice that he was walking towards a pile of crates.

"Look out!" Donald cried.

But it was too late. Goofy crashed into them and made a huge mess.

Everyone winched at the sight.

"Poor Goofy" Hikari said.

Genie must have heard the crash as well, because they could hear him shouting.

"Oh! What that my cue?" he asked.

"Am I on? C'mon, Al, lemme build a freeway or something"

Aladdin panicked, knowing that his friend would go crazy at any minute.

"E-everything's fine" he said.

"Don't panic…Genie!"

"But I can't hold it any longer!" Genie cried.

Fireworks erupted into the sky as Genie let his magic loose.

It was breathtaking sight for everyone after what they went through on this world.

"Sora! Hikari! Donald! Goofy!" Genie said.

"You guys are too much! If you're ever in the mood for some more cosmic razzle dazzle, gimme a shout, okay?"

Everyone smiled at that.

"You got it!" Donald cried.

Aladdin smiled at his friends.

"Well, you've done it again, you two" he said to Sora and Hikari.

"Don't forget about us, okay?"

The keyblade master's smiled at that.

"Of course we won't" Hikari said.

Aladdin went up to them.

"And…about that friend of yours, the one you're looking for..."

He placed a hand on their shoulders.

"You'll find him. Trust me"

Hikari smiled weakly at the gesture.

She knew that she would find Riku, but it was nice to know that her friends were supporting her on it.

"Thanks" she said.

Just then, she remembered something she had to do to Sora.

"Oh right" she said as she glared at Sora.

"I still need to get my revenge on you for nearly throwing me off of carpet"

Sora looked at her nervously and slowly back away from her.

"I said I was sorry" he said.

"I thought friends didn't beat each other up?"

Hikari had an evil smirk on her face.

"Oh, It's not like that" she said.

"I'm just being a good friend and teaching you a lesson"

Sora yelped when she closed in on him.

"You're really going to kill me with your keyblade?" he asked.

"The one weapon that you swore to use against our enemy?"

Hikari snorted.

"Who said about me using my keyblade?" she asked.

She picked up a random piece of plywood and held it like a bat.

"This should work just fine"

Sora screamed and ran away from her and she brandished the plywood.

"Get back here!" Hikari cried.

Everyone laughed as the keyblade masters running around Agrabah. Donald went so far as to cheering Hikari on.

Needless to say, that was how their trip in Agrabah ended.

/

**A/N: I liked that part at the end. It just shows that Hikari can have a nasty side to her. **

**Like I said, I know the fighting scene in this chapter sucked, but please spare me and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	34. Halloween Town part 2

Chapter 34: Halloween Town part 2

**A/N: We're back to my favorite world in the game! (Aside from Prot Royal and Pride Lands of course) We just have one more world after this and then we'll be reaching towards the end soon. It makes me tear up just thinking about it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Sora rubbed the bump on his head as they got on the Gummi Ship. Hikari had her arms crossed as she sat in her seat. She was able to get Sora for nearly making her fall off of carpet, but she wished that she could do more. Aladdin and Goofy had to stop her before she killed Sora.

"You have a really nasty hit, Hikari" Sora whined.

Hikari glared at him.

"Well, maybe if you didn't try to drop me off of carpet, none of this would have happened" she snapped.

"I saw I was sorry" Sora insisted.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!"

Donald and Goofy sighed as they watched their friends fight.

"I'm sure Sora didn't mean it" Goofy insisted.

"Just kiss and make up already" Donald said.

"We don't have time for the two of you trying to kill each other"

Sora and Hikari sighed before muttering their apologies.

Hikari turned in her seat and looked out the window as they traveled to their next destination.

After traveling to so many worlds, she still couldn't find Riku or her mom. There so many things that she wanted to ask her mother. Like why did she lie to her and why she never said that Xemnas was her father?

Just then, a memory of her flashed through her head.

/

_Taiyouko looked furious as she started at her father. Her hands were balled up into fists at her side as she shook_

_Ansem the Wise wore an indifferent look on his face as his daughter glared at him._

"_How could you do this?" she cried._

"_Why did you let him go through with his experiment? Are you that cold of a person that you would use your own apprentice?"_

_Ansem just sighed as he sat in his seat._

"_The choice was up to him" he said plainly._

"_I told him that he didn't have to go through with it, but he insisted that he would be the test subject. It tears me up thinking that he's gone through with it"_

_Taiyouko slammed her hands on the desk._

"_Then you should have tried harder to stop him!" she cried._

"_It's bad enough that you're trying to use my own children in your little experiments, but this is crossing the line"_

_Ansem raised an eyebrow._

"_Are you telling me that he's more important to you than your own children?" he asked._

"_Now who's the one being cold hearted?"_

_Murder was seen in Taiyouko's eyes._

"_Don't you dare insist that I don't love them enough!" she snapped._

"_I'm a better parent than you've ever been to me! I protect them and keep them away from people who wish to harm them. Why do you think I always keep them away from you? You never loved them or treated them as your own grandchildren. What makes you think I'll let you be a part of their lives when you've never been a part of mine?"_

_At that, Ansem stood from his seat in anger._

"_How dare you think that of me?" he snapped._

"_I loved you all so much! True, I should have raised you better, but that never meant I didn't love you. You're my flesh and blood. And I loved Leon and Hikari very much. I would never use them for the good of my experiments. I don't even let them enter my labs. So don't you dare think that I don't love any of you"_

_Taiyouko had angry tears in her eyes._

"_If you loved us as much as you claim, then you wouldn't have gone through all of this" she said._

_With that, she spun around and stormed out of his office._

/

Hikari looked at her lap sadly as the memory faded.

So even her mom had family problems. She hated her dad just as much as Leon hated their dad.

"_I guess it runs in the family or something" _she thought.

But the one thing that puzzled her was the person they were fighting over. Who was it that Taiyouko didn't want to be experimented on?

Was it her father?

That would have made sense. According from the old Ansem reports, he wanted to study the heartless and even conducted the experiment on himself. If that was the case, then her grandfather was the mastermind behind all this madness. And she was connected to all of it.

She dug her nails into her hand as she thought of this. So her family was the cause of all this. They created the heartless, the nobodies and plunged the worlds into darkness.

If that was the case, then she needed to stop this.

"_If my family was the one who started all of this, then I'll be the one to finish it. I won't let dad plunge the worlds into darkness any longer!"_

With that, the keyblade mistress made her vow to put an end to all of this.

/

Deep within Dr. Finkelstien's lab, the mad scientist was putting the finishing touches to his latest experiment. He had to replace a few of the parts that Lock, Shock and Barrel damaged, but he managed to get by it. A good scientist always thinks up of a backup plan.

Seeing that his experiment was put together properly, he pulled down a lever that would send electricity through it. The Scientist watched as his experiment kept getting zapped repeatedly before he flipped the switch.

He looked at his experiment to see if it would moved, but was disappointed when it didn't even twitch.

He growled in frustration and went to look at his blue prints in case he missed something.

"There's nothing wrong with my design-it's flawless" he muttered.

"There must be something wrong with the parts those imbeciles brought me. I need to find better assistants"

As he was looking through the blue prints, he heard movement from behind him. He stayed still so it would seem that he didn't notice. When it became louder, he quickly turned around to see who was sneaking up on him.

He never got to see who it was, because as soon as he turned around, everything went black.

/

The group arrived at the woods that held the doors to the holiday worlds. Everything seemed normal. The whole placed looked creepy and sent chills down Hikari's spine.

The only thing that did stand out was the presents that were scattered all over the area. Their bright paper and their pretty bows stood out in a place that was suppose to bring fright.

Jack appeared and picked up the presents that he came across by. They also noticed that he was still wearing his Santa outfit that Sally made him.

"Huh?" Donald said.

Jack looked up and smiled when he saw his friends.

"Perfect timing, you guys!" he said.

"Lend me a hand, will you?"

He shuffled the presents in his hands as he walked over towards them.

"These presents must belong to Sandy Claws" he said.

"So I thought I'd better return them"

Everyone gave him a skeptical look. They could sense that he still wanted to celebrate Christmas and give out toys this year for Santa. They could just tell by that overly happy grin on his face.

"You just happen to find them?" Sora asked suspiciously.

Jack's face fell when he realized they didn't believe them.

"Of course" he said.

"I'm finished with Christmas fantasies. You know that"

"But you thought you'd hold on to the suit?" Hikari asked.

Jack just smiled as he shrugged.

"What, this?" he asked.

"This is just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it!"

"Sure she did" Hikari muttered.

Jack simply picked up a few more presents before heading towards the door that lead to Christmas Town.

"Come on! We've got work to do!" he said.

Sora sighed before looking at his friends.

"We might as well follow him" he said.

"With our luck, he'll just make things worse over there"

"If he already hasn't" Hikari added.

They picked up the remaining presents and followed Jack to Christmas Town.

/

"You know what I find odd?" Hikari asked as they treaded through the snow.

"What?" Goofy asked.

"Why all these presents would be in Halloween Town when they should be here. Do you think Jack had anything to do with this?"

Sora fumbled with a few boxes, but managed to not drop any of them.

"That is odd, but I doubt Jack would have done this" he said.

"He's not that crazy that he would steal presents just so he could celebrate Christmas"

Hikari just blew the hair out of her face as they made it to Santa's workshop.

"Let's hope so" she said.

They made it inside to the workshop, where they found Santa pacing back and forth. It seemed he was upset about something.

When he saw the group walking in with presents in their hands, he looked surprised.

"Oh!"

He went up to them as they placed the presents down.

"Wherever did you find these?" he asked.

"In Halloween Town" Jack said as he handed the last present to Santa.

"You'll be needing them for Christmas, right, Sandy?"

The jolly old man examined the presents to make sure they weren't damaged before looking at them.

"Of course" he said.

"But these are just a few of the Christmas presents that were stolen"

Everyone looked shocked at that.

"Stolen?" Sora cried.

Hikari secretly looked at Jack. Did he really steal the presents just so he could celebrate Christmas? She peered through his memories and saw that he actually didn't.

If he didn't steal them, then who did?

Everyone seemed to think that it was Jack as well, but the Pumpkin King quickly tried to prove his innocence.

"Oh, Sandy…you don't think it was ME?" he insisted.

Santa gave him a suspicious look. Jack tried to take over his holiday once, so what was the chance that he would try to do it again?

"Still wearing the outfit, I see" he said.

"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion" Jack insisted.

"But if you don't believe me, then we'll just have to find out who really did it"

The group slumped as they heard this.

How they get roped into Jack's little mess? They just wanted to make sure that the heartless and the Organization weren't plaguing this world. They didn't have time to catch a thief. But since Jack was their friend, they simply had to help him.

Santa mulled over Jack's request then nodded.

"Very well, I'll leave it to you" he said.

Jack looked determined.

"All right then!" he said.

He looked at his friends.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald, Goofy. We're off!"

He started walking away, leaving his friends hung their heads in defeat. There was no way of getting out of this.

Just then, they heard glass breaking from the toy factory.

Santa quickly went to see what was going on while the group followed him.

/

Nothing looked like anything was wrong in the factory portion, so they went upstairs to check on the wrapping room where the toys got all prettied up.

And who did they find when they entered the room. Why it was none other than Lock, Shock and Barrel.

The three brats were tearing up Christmas presents and examined them before tossing them aside.

"Hey!" Donald cried.

The three brats stopped what they were doing and looked at them.

"So YOU three took them!" Sora said.

It made sense. They used to be Oogie's henchmen and were known for taking things that didn't belong to them. What were the odds that they were the ones who stole all the presents?

"Took what?" Shock asked.

Jack gave them a stern look.

"You stole the presents, didn't you!"

"It wasn't us" Lock insisted.

"But…it really sounds like fun!" Barrel added.

They quickly put their masks on and ran.

"Run for it!"

Everyone was one step ahead of them.

"Oh no you don't!" Donald said.

The three little children seemed to have improved their fighting skills since the last time that they fought them.

They separated so the group would have to run all over their palace to capture them. They wouldn't be able to focus all of their strength on one of them because they would be running all over the place. Every time they hit them or knocked them out, they would just get back up and run all over the palace again.

Sora growled in frustration when Lock kicked him in the leg.

There had to be a way to stop these kids.

He looked out of the corner of his eye and spotted three large boxes that were about the same size as the three nasty children.

An idea came to him as he looked at them.

"Hey Hikari!"

The young sorceress looked at him when she dodged Barrel jumping at her.

Sora pointed towards the boxes.

"Let's 'wrap' things up here" he said.

Hikari smirked.

"What a cheesy tagline" she said.

"But I'll go with it"

Sora would attack Lock, Shock and Barrel, while Hikari trapped them in the boxes before sealing them off with magic so they wouldn't get out.

When they were all trapped and wouldn't cause any more trouble, they let them out and sat them down.

"Where'd you put the presents?" Hikari asked.

"We told you! We don't have 'em!" Shock insisted.

"Then why are you here?" Donald asked.

"We're looking for parts for the experiment" Lock said.

Everyone looked confused. Experiment?

"Experiment?" Jack asked.

The children nodded.

"Dr. Finkelstein's making us a friend! One we get to boss around!"

Jack rubbed his head as he recalled his scientist friend making something.

"It's true the doctor's been hard at work making SOMETHING lately…" he admitted.

Lock, Shock and Barrel stood.

"Besides, Christmas presents are boring!" Lock said.

"Not scary or gross…so what good are they?"

"There's nothing fun here" Shock said.

"Let's go back to Halloween Town!"

They quickly left, leaving the group to clean up the mess that they created.

/

They went back to Santa when the put the wrapping room back in order.

"So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?" he asked.

Jack shook his head.

"It doesn't look like it" he said.

Santa sighed.

"Then that means…"

Just then, Sally came running into the room, looking frantic.

"Sally!" Jack said surprised.

The rag doll quickly went to them.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all here!" she said.

"Is something wrong?" Hikari asked.

Sally nodded.

"The heartless are back in the town square" she said.

"I thought you should know"

"That's are cue!" Sora said.

"Then it's back to Halloween Town" Donald stated.

They started to leave, but Jack stopped them.

"But wait!" he said.

"What about finding the gift-naper?"

Everyone sighed. He was more concerned about finding a couple of gifts than heartless trying to steal hearts.

"Actually…" Sally said.

"The Heartless were playing with some presents when I saw them…"

That changed Jack's mind right away.

"Aha! We found our culprit!" he said.

Everyone sweat dropped when they saw him run outside.

"The way his mind works, scares me" Hikari muttered.

They quickly followed after him before he hurt himself.

/

Sure enough, the heartless were all over the town square, wreaking havoc. The poor Mayor tired to help out, but it proved to be useless. It seemed that yelling at them didn't have an effect.

"You! You can't be here!" he cried.

"Leave Halloween Town, by order of the mayor!"

The heartless just ignored him and tossed a couple presents around.

"Somebody? Anybody!" the Mayor cried.

"I'm only an elected official- I can't handle this by myself!"

The group ran into the square that the heartless indeed had the presents.

"Sally was right!" Jack said.

"We've got to get those presents!"

Everyone summoned up their weapons in response.

They mainly targeted the heartless that had the presents rather than the other ones. They didn't want to risk the chance of them disappearing and taking the presents with. That would be like meddling with another world.

Jack did his dance routine with Sora and Hikari to get rid of the stronger heartless, much to their dismay. Jack seemed to have thrown Hikari higher and spun Sora faster than last time. The two of them almost threw up because of it.

When they got rid of the heartless, they gathered up the presents.

Jack picked up a damaged box, not realizing that he was stepping on the doll that used to be in it.

"What a shame" he said sadly.

"It looks like it was such a nice present"

Everyone sweat dropped at the sight.

"Uh, Jack…" Sora said.

Hikari placed her hand on his shoulder and simply shook her head, telling him it wasn't worth it.

The door to Dr. Finkelstien's lab burst open. The scientist must have woken up from being knocked out, because he was looking around frantically.

"Oh, help! Someone help me!" he cried.

"My latest experiment is gone-it's been stolen!"

Yet another thing was stolen on this world.

Thinking that this had a connection to the stolen presents, they ran into the scientist's lab and listened to his story.

"I was just sitting here brainstorming, when all of a sudden I was attacked!" Finkelstien said.

"I collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!"

Everyone mulled this over. This had to be connected to the stolen presents.

"Don't worry, Doctor-we know who took it" Jack said.

"Who?" Finkelstien insisted.

"The heartless" Sora said.

Dr. Finkelstien scoffed.

"What, those wretched creature?" he asked.

"Preposterous! This was nothing like a heartless"

Hikari ran a hand through her hair.

"Not the heartless, huh…" she said.

"Who else could it be?" Donald asked.

Jack tapped his chin.

"Say, I have an idea" he said.

Everyone cringed. Jack's ideas tended to backfire drastically. A good example would be making a heart for the heartless.

"The thief must like Christmas presents. So…we place irresistible gifts about to draw him into a trap"

"And this miscreant is the same who stole my experiment?" Finkelstien asked.

Jack nodded.

"That's right" he said.

"How will we know for sure?" Sora asked.

"Chances are that this may not be the same thief" Hikari added.

Jack just smiled at that.

"Well, now, that's easy!" he said.

"We'll scare a confession right out of him!"

Sora and Hikari just sighed. Did he not just hear what they said?

They just shook it off. Jack was too wrapped up in finding this present thief to understand the logic of his plan.

"What do you say we go with Jack's plan…just for now?" Sora asked the group.

"Like we even have a choice" Hikari muttered.

They all nodded, but knew they were going to regret this.

"Let's go to Sandy's house posthaste!" Jack said.

"We've got to make some Christmas presents, quickly!"

One again, they were dragged away by Jack and his eagerness. It made them wonder if he was really a kid trapped in a large skeleton body.

/

When they arrived at Santa's workshop (Or rather dragged there in the group's case), they went to tell Santa about their plan.

"Did you find the presents?" Santa asked.

"Almost, Mr. Claws" Jack said.

"We're going to reel in the thief with Christmas presents as bait" Sora said.

"Would you mind if we used your factory to create a few presents?" Hikari asked.

Santa rubbed his chin in thought.

"Presents as bait?" he asked.

"Goodness…I don't like the sound of that"

"_You and me both" _ Sora and Hikari thought.

Santa sighed.

"Just this once, I suppose" he said.

"It's for a good cause…all right, use the second floor. And put some heart into it"

Relieved that they would be able to pull off with their plan, the group promised to make some great presents and headed towards the wrapping room.

When Sora spotted the device that shot the presents into the boxes, he couldn't help himself and just had to use it. Donald and Goofy were left to wrapping the boxes while Jack and Hikari tied ribbons on them.

As Hikari was tying up a box, she spotted an aqua blue ribbon lying on the table.

She slowly picked it up and looked at it. It was the same shade of color as Riku's eyes were. The color of the sea. She closed her eyes sadly and held the ribbon tightly.

With all this nonsense of presents, it made think about Riku. She didn't want any materialistic things like clothes or jewelry. All she wanted at this point was to be in Riku's arms. She wanted to hear his voice and smell the scent of the ocean from him. She wanted to see those vibrant aqua blue eyes that she loved so much.

But most of all, she wanted to hear him said 'I love you' again.

Secretly, she slipped the ribbon in her dress pocket. She may have not had Riku with her now, but at least she had something that reminded her of him.

Sora and Donald examined the presents when they finished.

"All done!" Donald said.

"Not quite" Jack said.

"There's more?" Goofy asked.

Jack nodded and smiled at them.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest" he said.

Hikari made a face, but didn't say anything.

While Jack made preparations for the rest of their plan, the others went up to go talk to Santa.

"Did you finish wrapping the presents?" he asked.

Everyone nodded.

"We're just waiting for Jack" Sora explained.

Goofy scratched his head.

"So, uh, where do you think we oughta leave them?" he asked.

"Oh, I know a good spot" Santa said.

He led them outside where a set of giant doors were.

"This plaza should work well for your plan" he said.

"But the question is what IS Jack's plan?"

Everyone laughed nervously.

"We're wondering that ourselves" Sora said.

Jack came out and greeted them.

"Everything's set" he said.

The group filled him in about the plaza and asked what his plan was about.

Jack just smiled.

"I've got it all figured out" he said.

Santa raised an eyebrow.

"You do…?"

Jack nodded.

"Of course" he said.

"And I also have a wonderful idea. If we catch the thief for you, I would be honored to deliver the-"

Sora and Hikari quickly cut him off, knowing what he was about to say. It would seem that he still had Christmas on his mind.

Sora covered his mouth while Hikari pushed him towards the plaza.

"And on that note, we'll be going" Sora said.

Jack struggled as they pushed him away.

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Give it up, Jack" Hikari said.

"No matter what you say or do, Santa will not let you deliver the presents"

Jack hung his head in defeat and just went into the plaza to where they would unleash his master plan.

/

"Stop kicking!"

"It's not me, Donald"

"Patience, friends"

It turns out Jack's master plan was for them to hide in a giant present box and scare the thief. It may have sounded good in Jack's plan, but the end results were anything but it. They were all cramped together and they couldn't see anything. Not to mention they kept bumping into each other.

The sound of a hand slap could be heard.

"Who just grabbed my chest?" Hikari snapped.

"Ow! It wasn't me!" Sora said.

"Shh!" Jack said.

Outside, the decoy presents were all over the place.

"I said cut it out!" Donald snapped.

"Gawrsh, was that you?" Goofy asked.

"How come we have to be the bait?" Sora asked.

"Good plan, eh?" Jack said.

"A lot of words come to mind, but 'good' isn't one of them" Hikari said.

When they heard movement from outside, they all hushed. The footsteps slowly grew louder and louder as they got closer to the box.

When it was just outside of the box, everyone quickly jumped out.

"Gotcha!" Sora cried.

They were expecting some type of heartless, but what they saw shocked them.

There in front of them was none other than Dr. Finkelstien's experiment. So it was the thief.

"Doctor Finkelstein's experiment did it!" Jack exclaimed.

They quickly got out of the box and drew their weapons.

The experiment appeared to move slow, so it couldn't avoid the hits that were sent to it. But it made its lacking up with its brute strength and claws. And let's not forget that it like to break itself apart and become smaller parts.

Hikari flinched when one of the claws struck her and tore at her dress. She really wasn't fond of the outfit, but she didn't like that her clothes were ruined because of this stupid experiment.

She went into her wisdom form so she could use her more powerful spells. She glide across the plaza and dodged the experiments claws when it tried to strike her.

She was not going to get killed by some experiment.

She cast lightning spells as well as some of her princess powers. She didn't know if this thing was being moved with darkness, but she wasn't going to take her chances. Nearly every enemy they've encountered had some type of darkness within them.

Slowly, each part was destroyed bit by bit. Some were easy to destroy while others were proved to be hard. The head was a bit tricky since it liked to shoot lasers out of its eyes.

Eventually, they managed to destroy the experiment.

When they did, Jack looked very happy.

"We did it! The mystery is solved!" he said.

Santa came into the plaza by his reindeer and sleigh. Jack looked like a kid in a candy shop as he saw them.

"Did you catch the thief?" Santa asked as he approached them.

"Naturally" Jack said.

Sora and Hikari looked at the remains of the experiment.

"I just can't figure out why the doctor's experiment would go around stealing Christmas presents?" Sora asked.

"I doubt the Doctor would program it to do it, but it is rather odd" Hikari admitted.

Santa looked at the remains.

"His experiment?" he asked.

"The thief" Jack explained.

"It was a moving puppet made by Dr. Finkelstien"

Santa went up to the remains and examined it.

"Hmm…the doctor's puppet?" he asked.

"I see…he's always tinkering with things"

He turned around and looked at Jack.

"Now listen, Jack" he said.

"I'd like to thank you, and while delivering presents is something only I can do, I can give you an idea of what it's like"

Jack's face seem to light up at the idea of riding Santa's sleigh.

"Sandy Claws!" he cried gleefully.

He ran over to the sleigh and jumped into the seat. The skeleton sat there and marveled at the fact that his dream was coming true.

Santa shook his head and looked at Dr. Finkelstien's experiment.

"Yes, all that poor puppet wanted was a heart" he said.

Hikari's heart stung as she heard that. She never realized that was what the experiment intended when it stole the presents. It made her feel bad that she destroyed it when all it wanted was experience emotions.

Sora gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"It's not your fault" he said.

"If it kept doing what it was intending, it could have hurt someone. It had to be done"

Hikari gave him a weak smile and nodded.

The group watched as Jack road off on the sleigh and yelled 'ho, ho, ho' as he went.

"At least Jack got what he wanted" Goofy said.

Everyone smiled at that. Despite their skeleton friend being a bit naïve when it comes to the true meaning of some things, he did have a good heart.

/

While Jack was riding the sleigh, the group went back to Halloween Town to explain what happened to the experiment.

Dr. Finkelstien looked impressed rather than displeased that it was destroyed.

"Interesting!" he said.

"So the puppet wasn't stolen after all! It ran away on its own"

He smiled as he thought of something.

"In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!"

The group sweat dropped at that. They wouldn't call it a success if it went on a rampage like that.

"Santa Claus thinks maybe it left because it was trying to find a heart" Sora said.

Dr. Finkelstien rubbed his chin in thought.

"That's quite possible" he said.

"Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart"

He headed back to his lab to see if he could go further with his experiment.

Hikari ran a hand through her hair in thought.

"But if it wanted a heart, why was it going around stealing all those Christmas presents?" she asked.

"Maybe because…presents are a way to give your heart to someone special" Sally suggested.

Now that she mentioned it, she did have a point.

That's what Hikari did when she gave her pendant to Riku. She wanted to have a piece of her with him until she found him.

Sora looked sad as he heard this.

"When you put it that way, I feel sort of bad for it" he said.

Sleigh bells could be heard ringing through the air as Jack landed in front of them.

Everyone looked up when they saw snow falling from the sky. They didn't know where it was coming from, but when they saw Santa on his sleigh, they knew it was from him.

"Happy Halloween!" he cried as he rode off.

Everyone marveled at the sight. This was the first time Hikari saw snow falling from the sky and couldn't help but think it was magical.

"What a nice present" Sally said.

Jack looked confused as he saw the snow falling.

"I don't understand" he said.

"There's no box! No ribbon tied in a bow!"

The group sighed at this. Yep, even the pumpkin king could be naïve to the gift giving.

"Jack, it's not about the box or the ribbons" Sora said.

"It's about what's inside the box"

Sally shook her head as she smiled softly.

"No. what really counts-what's really special-is the act of giving the gift" she said.

"To wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy"

Jack smiled at that.

"Right…of course" he said.

"Thank you, Sally, you're absolutely right"

He suddenly placed his hand over his chest.

"I feel so strange…so very happy!"

Hikari smiled slightly.

"That must be Sally's present" she said.

"Really? This wonderful feeling?" Jack asked.

He turned to Sally and held her hands.

"Oh, Sally" he said.

"You've given me the nicest present in the world! And I've nothing to give you in return. What would you like? Just name it. Absolutely anything"

Sally continued to smile softly.

"The best gift I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you" she said.

Jack smiled brightly at that.

"You don't even have to ask for that" he said.

He pulled Sally into the center of the square and started dancing with her.

The group gushed over the scene as they watched the couple dance.

Sora looked at the ground sadly.

"Maybe I never gave her a real present after all" he said quietly.

Everyone knew that he was referring to Kairi. It reminded them that she still needed to be searched for as well.

Goofy gabbed his shoulders and gave him a slight shake.

"Aw, I bet Kairi would like most anything you gave her" he said.

Sora nodded.

"I know" he said.

"That's what made it so hard to decide" he said.

"It's not the gift, it's what's in your heart" Donald said.

Sora placed a hand over his chest.

"My heart…" he said.

Hikari smiled softly at him.

"Kairi and I are a lot like Sally" she said.

"As long as we can be with the one that we love most, what else do we need?"

She placed her hands over her heart.

"I don't need any materialistic things" she said.

"Just being with Riku is more than enough"

The group watched as Jack and Sally continued to dance. As they did, Hikari envisioned herself dancing with Riku. The two of them were smiling and laughing as they danced with each other.

Hikari quickly shook the image aside and laughed slightly.

She touched the blue ribbon that she had in her pocket and looked up at the snowing sky.

After everything that she went through so far, the only gift she wanted for Christmas was just to be with Riku.

That was the only gift that would make her happy.

/

**A/N: I hoped you guys like this chapter. We only have one more world left before we reach the end!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	35. Pride Lands part 2

Chapter 35: Pride Lands part 2

**A/N: Holy cow! I never expected to get 300 reviews for this story! You guys are awesome! Thank you so much!**

**Well, we're on our last world before we reach the 'World that Never Was' (besides Hollow Bastian and Twilight Town) It's kind of a bitter sweet feeling really.**

**Also, the fighting scene in this chapter may suck because I want to get through these chapters so we can get to the juicy parts (like Riku) so please bear with me until then.**

**I was asked if Hikari drank her potion in the last chapter since it wasn't mention. To answer that question; yes she did. I may not write about it, but she always takes her potion, unless I'm writing that she's at the last of it. It's nice to know that you guys are reading this seriously that you would pick something up like that!**

**Anyway, onward with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"I wonder if Jack will try to take over Christmas again." Goofy asked.

Just because his thirst for the winter holiday was subdued for now didn't mean that it was gone for good. With the way that their skeleton friend acted, he would be trying to convince Santa to rule the holiday again.

"Who knows" Sora said.

"All I know is that I don't want to get involved with it"

Hikari shuddered as she thought about Jack playing as Santa and giving heads shrunken heads. The images she came up with disturbed her to the point that it made seem crazy for thinking of it.

"_Must find a distraction!"_

She pulled out her potion bottled and checked how much of the magic drink she had left. It looked like after she took a sip for the next world, she would only have two sips of it left; maybe three if she was lucky.

This had to be the worst timing for it. The more they traveled between the worlds, the closer they were to having to fight her dad. If she was suppose to defeat him then she would have to be at her best. And having a messed up heart that made her cough up black stuff was not part of it.

Sighing in defeat, she took a small swig of the drink and stashed it away, along with her worries for the time being.

She didn't have time to worry about herself when her father was harming innocent lives. Their lives were far more important than hers right now.

She just hoped that she would be able to hang in there long enough to see through the end of this ordeal.

/

The group walked through the Pride Lands when they landed. This meant that they were back in their animal forms and would have to learn how to walk on four legs instead of two.

Everything seemed calm and quiet. With Simba as the new king, why wouldn't it be?

"It looks like everything's alright here" Hikari said.

As soon as she said that, Scar's three Hyenas came running towards them. They skidded to a stop when they saw the group.

"Oh, it's you guys" Shenzi said.

"Man, we were hoping for a meal"

Sora waved a paw at them, since he knew they weren't a threat to them anymore.

"Hiya" he said.

"Don't gimme any of that 'hiya' stuff!" Banzai scoffed.

"Thanks to you clowns, we're back to scavenging scraps for a living"

Ed just laughed like the idiot that he was.

Shenzi just sighed and turned around.

"C'mon, it's not that bad" she said.

"I enjoyed that week-dead elephant we had yesterday"

"Hey, how's Simba?" Hikari asked.

Shenzi stopped walking and started laughing at the mention of their king.

Everyone raised an eyebrow. Why would they be laughing at Simba? He was their king, and they should have known better than that.

"We gotta laugh every time we hear that dude's name" Banzai said.

"Ooh, say it again" Shenzi said.

"Simba!"

The Hyenas laughed over and over again as they said Simba's name.

Everyone grew angry as they saw this. How dare they make fun of their friend like this? Simba was a good friend and didn't need to be treated so poorly behind his back. Especially when his friends were around.

"That's enough!" Sora snapped.

The Hyenas stopped laughing and looked at the group.

"Go on then, see for yourself" Shenzi said.

"Simba is one wishy-washy king"

"Yeah, I bet about now, even some of those high and mighty lionesses were wishin' they'd go themselves a different king" Banzai added.

With that, they ran off to see if they could find another meal for the day to fill their stomachs.

"Gawrsh, whaddaya think coulda happened?" Goofy asked.

Sora shrugged.

"Well, let's go find Simba and see" Hikari said.

They all headed towards Pride Rock where they were sure to find their royal friend.

/

No one was walking around Pride Rock when they climbed up. It looked as if it were deserted or something. There were no sounds of any lionesses roaring or anything. It was dead silent.

However, the silence was broken when then group gasped at an image that suddenly appeared before them. Blobs of darkness gathered together and took the shape of none other than Simba's evil uncle, Scar.

"Scar?"

They ran up to it to strike it down, but the shadow simply vanished.

"Do you think it was a ghost?" Donald asked.

"We better tell Simba about this" Goofy said.

The group looked up to where the lion's den was.

"Wonder if he's up there?" Hikari asked.

They carefully walked up the path to the upper part of the rock, keeping an eye out in case Scar's shadow decided to appear again.

A lioness came out from the den and looked at them.

"Have you come to see Simba?" she asked.

The group nodded.

"We saw Scar's ghost!" Sora said.

The lioness nodded, as if she knew what they were talking about.

"An omen like that could only be foretelling the end of our pride" she said.

"Yet…King Simba won't do a thing. I guess just being the son of the great King Mufasa doesn't necessarily mean he's ready to rule the kingdom himself"

Now that didn't sound right. The Simba that they knew would never slack off like this. He put his all into protecting the ones he loved most and wouldn't stop until their enemy was gone. There was no way that he would let Scar's ghost roam around the Pride Lands and do nothing about it.

"Trust us. Simba will think of something" Hikari said.

The lioness shook her head.

"The time for thinking is past" she said.

"We need him to take action-as his father would have done. He ruled with courage and pride. I remember like it was yesterday…the mighty Mufasa…"

Sora gave the lioness a determined look. There was just no way that he would let his friend get bashed like that.

"Simba'll do all that, too! You'll see!" he said.

The lioness shook her head.

"I'm not so sure" she said.

With that, she walked off to go hunt for something to eat.

The group looked at each other. Was Simba really not doing anything? Was he just basking in his father's glory?

They needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Let's go talk to Simba" Hikari said.

They headed towards the King's den, where they found Simba laying on his throne. He gave his friends a weak smile when he saw them.

"You came back" he said.

The group slowly approached him. It didn't seem like Simba was lounging around doing nothing, but he didn't look right.

"Are you ok?" Hikari asked.

"You don't look so good" Goofy added.

Simba just placed his head on his paws and closed his eyes. He really was out of it.

"Hey, Simba" Sora said.

"Why don't we team up and do something about that Scar ghost? Seems like everyone is worried about it. So, now's your big chance to show 'em what you're really made of!"

At the mention of Scar, Simba stood up and glared at them.

"That doesn't concern you!" he snapped back.

Everyone stepped back in shock. They had never seen Simba snap like that. This case with Scar's ghost must have been serious.

Simba looked like he regretted for snapping at his friends and hung his head.

"Sorry" he said.

"It's ok" Hikari said softly.

"And you're wrong. This does concern us. You're our friend, and we want to help you out"

Simba sighed as he looked away.

"I just wish I knew what my father would do" he said.

Now it made sense. The whole reason why Simba wasn't doing anything was because he wanted to be like his father and rule the Pride Lands the way he did. That was noble of him, but no needed. Since he was king, he had the rule the kingdom the way his heart was telling him. He couldn't live in his father's footsteps.

"But he's not here, Simba" Goofy said.

"It's all up to you now. And that means the important thing is what you're gonna do being the king. Not what you're father woulda done"

Hikari smirked.

Leave it to Goofy to give out words of advice. He may not have looked like it, but he was very smart and seemed to know the right thing to say.

Simba looked at them.

"So you're saying…it's all up to me…" he said.

Sora smiled.

"See, there you go!" he cheered.

"Exactly!"

Everyone turned to see Timon and Pumba walk into the den.

"We know your dad was a great king, and all" Timon said.

"But now it's your turn. Remember what I taught ya. 'You gotta put the past behind you'. It's time to go out there and show everybody things are going to be just fine!"

"Yeah! You can do it!" Hikari cheered.

"You gotta live for today!" Timon added.

"And find your own path!" Pumba said.

Simba mulled over his friends words.

"Live for today…" he murmured .

"And find my own path…not my father's…"

"That's it!" Timon said.

Nala walked into the den.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Simba" She said.

Everyone smiled as they saw their lioness friend.

Nala smiled softly at the group.

"Promise me that you'll help Simba any way you can" she said.

"As long as Sora and Hikari handle the dangerous parts" Timon said.

The keyblade masters nodded in response. As if they would let their friend get killed during their stay.

Nala smiled sweetly at Simba.

"I'm counting on you, Simba…and so is our baby"

Sora and the group sweat dropped at that. They were happy that their friends were going to be parents, but they didn't realize how quickly they were.

"Looks like they were busy while we were gone_" _Donald whispered.

Hikari smacked him upside the head and shushed him.

Simba stepped off his perch and walked over to the group.

"Let's go see Rafiki first" he said.

"I'm sure he'll be able to tell us something about that ghost"

"Sounds like a plan" Hikari said.

"Lead the way, your Highness" Sora joked.

Simba just smirked as he led the group to Rafiki's hut. The shaman monkey appeared to be expecting them when he smiled at them.

"Oh, ho ho!" he laughed.

"The King-he is ready to be king?"

"I think so" Simba said quietly.

"Can you tell us about Scar's ghost?" Sora asked.

Rafiki rubbed his chin.

"Oh, yes…the ghost" he said.

"A being with no body. It was created when the evil heart of Scar meets the hesitating heart of Simba"

Simba looked concerned as he heard that.

"Hesitating?" he asked.

Rafiki wore a knowing look on his face.

"Ohhh…you thought you were not?" he asked.

"Gawrsh, that ghost sounds like a heartless" Goofy said.

"I don't know about that" Sora said.

"You're right, you don't" Rafiki said.

"But you know it is upsetting. And it is upsetting the hearts of everybody in the Pride Lands. You may not know what it is, but it still IS. This world, it is full of many such things. And these things, a king must face. It is the test that has been set for you, Simba"

Simba looked a little discouraged by the information that they were given. It really didn't explain a lot.

"That's all?" he asked.

"Come on. You have to tell us more about the ghost…"

Rafiki hit him on the head with his staff.

"No, not today!" he said.

"But the hyenas in the Elephant graveyard may know more. It does not matter, though. There is little the Simba of late can do"

"Aw, don't say that!" Hikari said.

"Now when he's ready to try!"

"In his head, yes…but what about his heart?" Rafiki asked.

Simba sighed and looked at his friends.

"Forget it, you guys" he said.

"Let's head for the elephant graveyard"

Everyone slowly followed Simba out of the hut before they left to go find the answers that they were looking for.

/

The elephant graveyard was as creepy as ever. Skeletons were scattered all over the place and the air smelt of rot and decay. Torches were lit all over the place, making the atmosphere even scarier.

Everyone slowly walked through the area, knowing that they were in enemy territory. The hyenas were no match for them while in the Pride Lands, but when they were in their territory, they had the full advantage.

Speaking of hyenas, the three knuckle heads were found standing near a giant elephant skull.

"Hey you!" Sora said.

Banzai just groaned.

"Aw, c'mon, can't you guys just leave us alone?" he asked.

Simba gave them a stern glare. He had to show them who was boss of this world.

"Do you three know anything about Scar's ghost?" he asked.

"What? Scar's ghost?" Shenzi asked mockingly.

Ed just laughed like he usually did.

"Maaaybe" Banzai said.

They quickly took off so they wouldn't have to deal with them.

"You DO know!" Hikari cried.

They ran after them before they could get away. If they knew something, they were going to beat it out of them.

"Split them up!" Simba said.

Everyone nodded and ran in different directions of the graveyard.

Donald and Goofy were in charge of Ed. Sora and Hikari had Shenzi and Simba had Banzai.

Shenzi glared at Hikari when she saw her. She still had marks from where she scratched her with her fire induced claws.

"You've just used up your nine lives, kitty" she spat.

Hikari scoffed and flexed her claws out.

"Clearly I didn't show you a lesson last time" she said.

"I need to fix that"

"Save some for me" Sora insisted.

"But of course" Hikari replied.

The keyblade masters double teamed as they took on Shenzi. They didn't bother using their keyblades since the hyena wasn't worth it. Instead, they did it old school style and took her out with their bare hands, or paws in this case.

Hikari coated her claws with her magic as she tore at Shenzi's face while Sora used his teeth. They pretty much messed up the hyena that she would never run the same way again.

Sora grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her towards the entrance to the graveyard, where the others were waiting for them, with their opponents as well. When they had all the hyenas together, they formed a half circle so they wouldn't go anywhere.

The hyenas just glared at them.

"Oh no…I guess you caught us ALL" Banzai said mockingly.

"What're we gonna do?" Shenzi added.

Simba glared at them.

"Tell me about Scar's ghost!" he demanded.

"Sorrry. We don't know nothin'" Banzai said.

"Oh, wait! It's coming back to me" Shenzi said.

"There's the one that only hangs out around fraidy cats. Right, Banzai?"

Simba glared at them.'

"Enough!" he snapped.

Ed just laughed and pointed to something that was behind them.

Everyone turned around to see Scar's ghost standing a few feet away from them. The darkness surrounding him made him appear scarier than ever.

"Must be a fraidy cat around here somewhere" Shenzi said.

Simba looked nervous as he started at his uncle's ghost. Memories of what happened before flashed through his head.

The group noticed his hesitance as well.

"Simba! Do something!" Sora said.

"This is your moment!" Hikari added.

Scar just smirked at Simba.

"How does it feel to be king, hm?" he asked.

"Why, you must be a truly inspiring ruler by now"

Simba slowly started backing away when it became too much for him.

"After all, you ARE the son of the great Mufasa" Scar continued.

With that, Simba ran off, leaving everyone behind.

"Where are you going?" Sora called out.

"Simba!" Hikari cried.

"Ah, Simba…running away as always" Scar said before disappearing.

When the hyenas sensed that they weren't cornered anymore, they walked off as well.

The group sadly watched where Simba ran off to.

"Gawrsh, Rafiki was right" Goofy said.

"You mean, Simba's still unsure?" Hikari asked.

Goofy nodded.

"Seems like it" he said.

"Do you think there's some way we can help?"

"Hmm….we should start by talking to Simba some more" Sora said.

"Let's head back to the Pride Lands"

"Gladly" Hikari said.

"This place is giving me the creeps"

They quickly left the elephant graveyard, knowing that they overstayed their welcome.

/

Nala and Rafiki were waiting for them when they returned.

Nala wore a concerned expression on her face when she noticed that they were missing a person.

"Where's Simba?" she asked.

Sora rubbed his head.

"Well, uh…"

Rafiki seemed to understand what happened.

"Oh ho ho! He ran away!" he stated.

"I knew it would not be easy for him. To face his fears, he must go somewhere where the only thing to think of is what to do, not what others think of him"

Hikari gave the shaman a harsh stare.

"Why didn't you just say so?" she asked.

"But where's Simba now?" Donald asked as he looked around.

"Hey, I know! He's at the Oasis!" Timon said.

"It's our favorite hangout!"

Sora nodded.

"Got it! Let's go check it out" he said.

"I have a feeling that I'll have to knock Simba to his senses" Hikari said.

"Just don't overdo it" Goofy warned.

"I'm sure he has a lot on his mind"

"I'll try" Hikari said.

They quickly ran off to go try to knock some sense into their friend. The Pride Lands needed a king, and a one that was depressed was not the one they wanted.

/

"I feel bad for Simba" Goofy said as they ran.

"Why do you say that?" Sora asked.

Goofy shrugged.

"I guess it must be hard having such an important dad like that" he said.

Donald nodded.

"That's what happens when you have a powerful parent" he said.

"You're bound to fall in their footsteps. Whether they're good or bad"

At hearing this, Hikari stopped. She never realized that she was in a similar situation to Simba until just then.

Xemnas was considered a powerful person. He was the one who made the heartless and the nobodies. He was the one who plunged the worlds into darkness. He was the one who tormented her friends and made them suffer, including her. Having a father like that was nerve wracking.

Sure, she could always tell herself that she didn't need to worry; that she would never fall in his footsteps. Bu there was always the nagging feeling in the back of her head saying that there was always a possibility. His blood ran through her veins, even if he was a nobody now. There was no way that she could compete with someone as powerful as him.

It made her realize that Simba was thinking the same thing with his father. Mufasa was a great leader. Since he was his son, Simba felt that he had to rule the same way that his father did. It had to have scared the hell out of him. How could he rule a kingdom like his father did when he didn't even see it?

Running away from his fears was probably the only thing that he could do.

She bowed her head as she thought of this.

"I guess running away would be the easiest way out" she said.

Everyone stopped and looked at her.

Hikari just looked at the ground sadly.

"When you're faced with something that absolutely terrifies you, the only thing that you can think of is running away and hope you never see it again" she muttered.

Sora looked at her sadly, knowing that she was thinking about Simba and herself. There were time where he wondered how she was able to keep on going with this journey, even knowing that her family was the enemy. If it had been away one else, they would have ran away by this point and hoped that someone else would take care of it.

Hikari just shook her head slowly.

"But it doesn't make it better. Even if you run away from it, it'll still find you. The only thing to do is face it, even if it scares you"

She looked at her friends with a slight determination.

"Simba has to face his fears of Scar" she said.

"If he doesn't, then he'll never get on with his life and he'll never become the king that the Pride Lands need. Only he can make things right"

Sora smirked slightly. He had a feeling that she was talking about herself as well, but didn't say anything.

"Then let's go tell him" he said.

"He may have to face his fears, but that doesn't mean he has to do it alone"

Hikari nodded.

"He'll need all the help he can get"

They quickly ran through the savannah and headed towards the Oasis where Simba was surely hiding.

/

The king of the Pride Lands sat at his spot near the waterfall. He felt horrible for running off like that, but he just didn't know what to do. He was so afraid when he saw Scar and what he said, that he just couldn't take it anymore.

All the things that he said about him were true.

He may be Mufasa's son, but he would never be the king that his father was. He would always live within his father's shadow.

"Father…" he said.

"hmm. It seems even your daddy's abandoned you. How sad"

Simba whipped around when he heard Scar's ghost.

His uncle just gave him a cruel smirk when he saw how vulnerable he was. He advanced towards him and slowly backed him up towards the ledge where the drop would have been fatal. Simba stayed as far from the edge as possible, but that proved to be difficult since Scar closed in on him for the kill.

Luckily, Sora and the others came in time to see what was happening.

"Simba!" Sora cried.

Scar scowled when he saw that they weren't alone anymore and disappeared.

Simba sighed sadly at having to be rescued by his friends.

"It's no use" he said.

"I'll never be the king that my father was"

The group slowly went up to him. They should have known that he would be still thinking like that.

"But Simba…that's not what you're supposed to be" Hikari said.

"You can't be Mufasa. You can only be you"

Sora smiled.

"Everybody believes in you as a king" he said.

"They just want to see what you'll do. And if anyone is saying that they liked your father better, it's because you haven't done much yet. That's all"

Simba looked at the ground sadly.

"I know that" he admitted.

"Then stop mopping and DO something" Hikari insisted.

Simba closed his eyes tightly and shook his head.

"I can't!" he insisted.

He turned around and faced the scenery.

The group scowled when they realized they weren't going to get anywhere with him. It seemed that Simba would never grasp to the fact that he couldn't live in the past and would just run from his fears.

It made Hikari sad. She hoped that with a little persuasion, he would change his mind and come back with them.

"_I guess everyone's hearts are different" _she said.

"Fine" Sora said.

"Let's go, you guys" Donald said.

"Yeah. Why stick around if he's not going to try?"

They started walking away, but Hikari stopped and looked at Simba.

"Listen, Simba. I know what you're going through. It's the same for me" she said.

"Having such an important parent makes people expect a lot from you. They hope that you'll be the same and it scares you. They want you to be someone that you're not and you're afraid that you'll end up as a shadow of your former self"

She saw Simba's head drop, which meant she hit the nail on the head.

"Don't let your past dictate who you are" she said.

"You can only be you. That's what's most important. If you follow in your father's footsteps, then you'll just be making the same mistakes as he did. You need to make your own path"

When she didn't get a response, she sighed and slowly followed her friends.

Just as she was about to head into the jungle, she got an idea that would make Simba come to his senses.

She quickly stopped Sora before he left and told him her plan before they put it into action. Hiding behind a log, Hikari cast an illusion Scar and made it seem like it was his ghost. She had to cover up a snicker when she saw Simba freaking out.

"Ok, go for it, Sora" Hikari whispered.

"The hesitant king will one day lose all his friends" Sora said in 'Scar's' voice.

"King Simba the doubtful…" Donald added.

"Worried by a silly ol' ghost" Goofy said.

"Oh, Simba the do-nothing king…"

That got to Simba. The King glared at the 'ghost' and growled.

"No!"

He roared and pounced on the 'ghost', making it vanish.

The group came out from their hiding spot and went up to him.

"You did it!" Sora cheered.

"The ghost is gone!"

"We knew you could do it" Hikari said.

"Hooray for Simba!" Goofy cheered.

Simba gave them a small smile, knowing that they would never leave him like that.

"You know, I'm really lucky to have friends who'll stand by me…and help me see clearly" he said.

"My father…wasn't so fortunate"

"There you go again" Sora sighed.

Simba shook his head.

"I mean…everyone here, and in the Pride Lands, wants me to succeed" he said.

"Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy. Pumbaa, Timon, Rafiki…Nala. You all want what's best for me. But my father always had Scar lurking behind his back, trying to cut him down. I've got to make the most of my blessings, and rebuild this kingdom"

"Are you gonna say it, or do it?" Hikari asked.

Simba gave them a determined smirk.

"Wait and see" he said.

"Simba!"

Timon came running towards them as if he was on fire.

"Simba! Come quick!" he cried.

"There's a bazillion ghosts of Scar haunting the Pride Lands! Everybody but Nala high-tailed it out of there. And now she needs your help!"

At the mention of Nala in danger, Simba went into action and high tailed it out of the Oasis. He had a wife and kid to protect.

Timon looked where Simba ran off to.

"Our little Simba…all grown up and finding his place in the world…" he sighed.

Simba must have heard them, because he came running back.

"Nice try. You're coming too" he said.

Everyone quickly ran off to go defend the Pride Lands.

Hikari stopped for a second and looked up at the sky. Simba was able to move on and face his family, but she wondered if she was able to do so.

There was only one person who could answer her doubts.

"Hey, Mufasa" she asked quietly.

"Do you think I have what it takes to take down my father, even knowing what he's done?"

She didn't get a response. She sighed sadly. She figured as much; why would the dead respond.

She just shook her head and quickly ran off. There was no time to worry about her own problems. She had to help Simba deal with his at the moment.

That was her duty as a keyblade mistress and a friend.

/

Pumbaa shook like a leaf as he stood protectively in front of Nala. Scar's ghost was closing in on them and edging them towards the front of Pride Rock. Even though he was scared out of his mind, he knew that he had to protect the queen of the Pride Lands, because that was what his heart was telling him.

Just then, the group ran into the scene.

"We're here!" Sora cried.

Nala looked relieved when she saw them.

"Where's Simba?" she asked.

The group all bowed before Simba as he gracefully walked up to them. All his doubts and fears from before washed away and he walked through his throne.

He gave Nala a determined look.

"I've come back, Nala" he said.

Scar's ghost walked over to him, losing his interest in Nala and Pumbaa. Everyone watched as Simba had a stare off with his uncle. The two lions glared at each other with so much hatred. They caused each other so much pain that the wounds would never heal.

Simba growled darkly.

"Get out!" he ordered.

The ghost vanished and whisked away from Pride Rock.

"Way to go, Simba!" Hikari cheered.

Nala went up to Simba and nuzzled her head with his.

The touching moment was short lived when all of a sudden, the ghosts of Scar gathered from all over the Pride Lands and merged together outside of Pride Rock.

Simba looked at the scene, then at his friends with determination.

"Are you with me?" he asked.

Everyone smile.

"Now and forever, Your Majesty!" Sora said.

Hikari looked at Donald and Goofy.

"You two stay here and keep everyone safe" she said.

"Sora and I will help Simba"

The two of them nodded before they wished them good luck.

The three lions quickly ran down and headed for the Savannah where the final showdown was about to begin.

/

The ghosts of Scar had gathered to create an exotic looking heartless that resembled a couple of animals. The sheer size of it rivaled that with Pride Rock. Even knowing that, the heroes faced their enemy.

"A king must face any enemy, no matter what the size" Simba stated.

Hikari smirked.

"Just remember the heartless we used to fight a while ago" she said.

"This thing is nothing compared to them"

Having four legs gave the group an advantage. Since this heartless was so huge, it tended to take huge steps. If they stayed in one place a second longer, then they would have became pancakes.

But, since it was slow, that meant it was easy to trip it and mess it up. Simba and Hikari weaved through the heartless' legs and made it stagger a bit while Sora fended it off when it went to smash its paw on them. With enough brute strength, the keyblade master was able to knock the heartless off its feet and left it vulnerable.

The climbed up the head to get on its back, and found a shaman like heartless riding on it.

"That must be what's controlling it" Simba said.

"Only one way to find out" Sora said.

Simba roared loudly and pounced on the heartless. He dug his claws and teeth into the shaman's mask and tried to rip it off. Sore joined in as well, but he attacked the body and tried to destroy it limb from limb. Hikari played it safe and cast her magic on it. Since it was considered a desert like heartless, she used as many blizzard spells that she knew to freeze the nasty shaman to submission. They weren't as powerful, since she was in lion form, but at least they were better than what Sora and Donald performed.

Simba put his all into destroying the heartless. Since he was the king now, that meant he had to protect his kingdom from everything that threatened to hurt it. His past, weak self was thrown away and was replaced with strong, confidant lion.

After much struggle, the heartless was destroyed. Because of Simba's bravery, the Pride Lands were saved once more.

He was able to do something that Mufasa would never have been able to do. He defeated a mighty heartless on his own, thanks to the help and support of his friends.

/

Simba and Nala stood proudly in front of Pride Rock when the battle was over as king and queen.

The group watched as their friend took on his new role in life with a new light.

"Simba seems fine now" Sora said.

"Ha! The king has returned!" Rafiki cried.

"The Pride Lands will not forget King Simba's courage. Or the courage of those who fought beside him"

Simba walked over to his friends.

"Do you think your quest will ever be over?" he asked.

Sora and Hikari's faces fell. They wondered that as well. As long as there were heartless, the fighting would never be over.

"We don't know…" Sora said quietly.

"But I think, as long as the keyblades stays with Hikari and I…we'll have to keep fighting"

Hikari looked at the ground sadly.

"Makes you wonder if this battle will ever be really over" she said.

"Ahh…the struggle never ends" Rafiki said.

"That is the Great Circle of Life"

"Never ever?" Sora asked sadly.

Rafiki gave them a warm smile.

"The secret to victory…is a strong heart" he said.

As he said that, he pointed towards the skies, where Mufasa was. Hikari smiled softly. She couldn't help but think that this was Mufasa's answer to her question from before. It was as if he was saying as long as she didn't give up, then was sure to win.

"_Thank you" _she thought.

Rafiki started laughing and pretended to shoo them away.

"Go on, go on, go-go then!" he cried.

"Go on, get out! Yes! Yes! It is time! Your fight continues…"

Everyone smiled at that. Yes, they fight still continued.

Sora and Hikari looked at Simba.

"Till we meet again, Your Majesty" Sora said.

"I hope that's soon" Simba smiled.

Hikari nodded.

"It will be" she said.

"So long!"

The group ran from Pride Rock to continue their quest. Everyone watched as they vanished within the horizon.

The Pride Lands would always remember them as the heroes who help saved their kingdom.

Rafiki made it sure, by painting their images on the mural of kings, right under Simba's portrait.

Even if they never returned to this world, they would always have a part of them there.

/

**A/N: So that was the end of the Pride Lands! Next up, we get to hear Sora and Hikari sing their heartsongs! Hope you're all ready for a little music!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	36. Atlantica: Heartsongs

Chapter 36: Atlantica: Heartsongs

**A/N: Here's the chapter you've been waiting for! Sora and Hikari get to sing their songs! I'm pretty excited about this chapter really because they get to sing two of my favorite Final Fantasy songs! Hope you're ready for some musical entertainment!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or the songs that are used in this chapter. I just own my oc's**

**Enjoy!**

/

"I think Simba's going to do fine as King" Sora said.

Hikari nodded.

"If he can take down a giant heartless like that, then I'm sure he has nothing to worry about"

"Except parenting" Donald said.

Everyone snorted at that.

"I don't think we'll be able to help with him on that" Goofy said.

"You can't have your friends help you with everything" Sora pointed out.

Hikari rolled her eyes and sat in her seat.

"We should head on over to Atlantica" she said.

"I'm sure everyone is dying to hear our heartsongs"

The guys laughed nervously at that, but knew there was no way out of this. They promised that they would help with the concert, and they were going to keep their word on it.

As they headed for Atlantica, the group practiced out the songs that they were going to sing. They didn't want to screw this up with their crappy voices.

/

The palace was packed for the concert. It seemed that everyone from Atlantica came so they could hear some great music.

Sebastian stood in front of the podium. He checked to see if everyone was ready, before signaling to start. Music filled the palace as the orchestra started to play while everyone started singing.

"_Welcome the dawning of a happy age of new beginnings._

_Land and sea, have come together, joined in peace and harmony._

_Fairy tales and miracles are what we're singing of:_

_Our dear princess, Ariel has truly fell in love._

_With a prince, a human prince who lived so far above"_

Ariel smiled brightly as she started singing.

"_Wishes really can come true if you want them to._

_And this happiness inside I owe to every one of you"_

The rest of the choir picked up at this point.

"_How about you introduce us to these lovely friends of yours?"_

Ariel held her hand out as she introduced her friends.

"_Come take a bow: Donald, Goofy, Hikari and Sora"_

"_Congratulations, dear princess, to you" _Donald sang.

"_You found your first love and he found you, too" _Goofy sang.

"_We were glad to help you out and very proud, it's true" _Hikari sang.

"_Seeing how we made you grin just makes us want to twirl a fin" _Sora sang.

Ariel started singing again.

"_Wishes really can come true if you want them to._

_And this happiness inside I owe to everyone of you"_

"_Be so kind to introduce us to the King, and these his loyal friends" _The choir sang.

"_Please say hello: Daddy, Sebastian, Flounder" _Ariel sang.

King Trion smiled at his daughter.

"Ariel, I'm so happy for you" he said.

"_Yes, happy endings are so rare and so few" _Sebastian sang.

"_We were glad to help, and very proud, it's true" _Flounder sang.

"_Seeing how we made you grin just makes us want to twirl a fin"_

"_Any other friends of yours that might be waiting in the wing?" _ The choir sang.

"_Come say hello: all my friends from every corner of the world" _Ariel sang.

At this point, everyone started to sing.

"_A new day is dawning on a happy age of new beginnings._

_Land and sea have come together joined in peace and harmony._

_Fairy tales and miracles are what we're singing of: _

_Our dear princess, Ariel, Prince Eric from above._

_A happy end forever after, full of joy and love"_

The audience applauded when the song was over. Everyone bowed in recognition, knowing that they did a good job. It was a lovely song, but it wasn't over yet.

Everyone pushed Sora forward when it came to starting the heartsongs.

"Break a fin, Sora!" Donald cheered.

Sora gulped nervously but told the orchestra what to play.

Music filled the air for a moment, taking everyone to a distant world.

Sora took a deep breath and started to sing. His voice expressing what his heart was feeling at the moment.

"_Seas invite in the evening sun_

_To light the somber abyss._

_Clouds dance up with the heavens' stars,_

_Chanting an air of joyous bliss._

_Water fades back from blue to jade, _

_Guiding young rainbows high._

_Flowers bloom into red and white,_

_Quenching our hearts as they run dry._

_Angels chained by a beast locked in slumber._

_Sin washed away by the swift flow of time._

_I may know the answers._

_Journeys over snow and sand._

_What twist of fate has brought us_

_To tread upon this land?"_

The orchestra played their number while Sora caught his breath to play the next part.

"_Blessed by light and the burden of shadows._

_Souls abide to an endless desire._

_I may know the answers, _

_Though one question I still hear._

_What twist of fate has brought us _

_To roads that run so near?_

_Distant worlds together._

_Miracles from realms beyond._

_The lifelight burns inside me_

_To sing to you this song_

_To sing with you this song_

_To sing to you your song"_

_(_Distant Worlds from Final Fantasy XI)

When he finished, the audience gave him a standing ovation. The song was sung so well and it held such deep emotions.

Sora laughed when Donald and Goofy put him in a headlock.

"Way to go, Sora!" Hikari cheered.

"That was amazing" Ariel added.

Sora just smiled.

"It's your turn, Hikari" he said.

"Wow 'em"

Hikari blushed.

"I'll give it my best"

She told the orchestra what to play before she calmed herself. Her mind wandered over to Riku and her quest to find him. She wasn't going to give up until she was back in his arms again.

"_Riku, wherever you are…this song is for you" _she thought.

The orchestra started play the slow, steady tune for Hikari to sing.

"_Wind, and my heart swimming in collected words_

_Moved by the wind, in through the world._

_Clouds, like a voice that we all recognize _

_Carry the holding future._

_Moon, on the sky as a trembling heart_

_Shown on the glass unsteadily._

_Stars, shedding tears in an overflowing stream_

_I see the night all around me._

_Suteki Da Ne_

_Being together, all alone walking hand in hand._

_And I want to go to your city_

_To your home, into your arms._

_That soul _

_Inside your body_

_From those conflicting nights_

_As from my dream"_

The orchestra played their part, letting Hikari to think deep in thought. No matter where she went, or how long she would have to travel, she would not give up on Riku. He was the reason why she wanted to become stronger, why she wanted to protect the ones she loved most. She wouldn't stop until she had her knight back.

She picked up singing when it came to her part.

"_Wind died away, and I feel all the words_

_Led by a gentle illusion._

_Clouds are the future that cannot be attained_

_Told from impossible distance._

_The moon filled with night as it flowed through your heart_

_Such faraway reflections._

_Stars, ripe like tears, like fruit falls from a tree_

_I wipe my dreams of the nighttime._

_Suteki Da Ne_

_Being together, all alone walking hand in hand._

_And I want to go to your city_

_To your home, into your arms._

_To feel your face_

_The touch of memory_

_And now that I awake_

_As from my dream_

_Suteki Da Ne_

_Being together, all alone walking hand in hand._

_And I want to go to your city_

_To your home, into your arms._

_To feel your face_

_The touch of memory_

_And now that I awake_

_As from my dream"_

(Suteki Da Ne from Final Fantasy X)

Hikari was rewarded with a standing ovation as well. Everyone seemed to be moved by her heartsong and thought it held such a beautiful story behind it.

Hikari hid her face behind her hands in embarrassment. She never realized how well her heartsong would be.

Sora and the others were cheering her on as she swam over to them.

"That was so beautiful, Hikari" Ariel said.

"That was a very powerful heartsong" Goofy added.

"I bet Riku would have loved it" Sora whispered to her.

Hikari blushed. She didn't know if Riku would ever hear her heartsong, but deep in the back of her mind, she had a feeling that he would.

/

When the concert ended, the group stayed behind to catch up with Ariel.

Everything was fine and dandy until a large bubble floated past them. It suddenly started to glow, indicating that it was the keyhole for this world.

Sora and Hikari quickly sealed the keyhole, so heartless wouldn't be able to come to this world.

"What's happening?" Ariel asked.

"A new pathway has opened" Hikari explained.

"What? You gonna go?" Sebastian asked.

"Dis is goodbye?"

"I won't do it" Donald declared.

"We'll never say goodbye"

"That's right!" Goofy said.

"A-one, two, three, four: "

"_Even though we're hittin' the road, our worlds are all connected" _everyone sang.

"Which means" Sora said.

"_We are free to come and go" _

"And sing" Donald added.

The group swam up to Ariel and smiled at her.

"_So don't be sad, and always know, we'll come back soon to say hello!"_

Ariel smiled brightly at the song they sang her.

And what they said was true. No matter where they went, they would always remember the times they spent singing together.

Because these memories together would always be considered their heartsongs.

/

**A/N: I know this chapter was short, but I figured you guys wanted to hear the songs. I hoped you liked them.**

**And for the record, 'Suteki Da Ne' will be considered at Riku and Hikari's love theme from here on out. It's my favorite, so I wanted to give them a special song.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	37. Hundred Acre Woods

Chapter 37: Hundred Acre Woods

**A/N: We get to see our favorite storybook friends! And just for the record, Hikari found the pages while they were traveling. I just forgot to add that into the story like I did with the first one, so please spare me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone decided that it was time to head back to Hollow Bastion. They had made sure all of their friends from the others worlds were safe after that little shake up, so they decided that they should see how Leon and the others were.

Hikari was unusually quiet during the ride. Normally, she would be talking non-stop about her brother that the others would have to tell her to shut up.

They figured that she was still a little upset about the whole Xemnas thing and that she was mad that Leon never said anything to her. Plus, going back to the world where she learned about everything added salt to her wounds.

Sora gave her a nervous smile as he watched her fiddle with her almost empty potion bottle. Whenever Hikari was quiet, things were bound to turn bad.

"Y-you ok, Hikari?" he asked.

Hikari just gave him a dull, emotionless look that made him shiver.

Yep, she was _not _happy.

Not wanted his head to be chewed off, he tried to get her out of the mood that she was in.

"Aw, come on, Hikari!" he insisted.

"I'm sure Leon had no idea your dad was behind all of this. You can't be mad at him! Heck, I'm sure if you ask him, he'll be as stunned as you were…maybe even worse! Just don't be mad at him because he never said anything!"

Hikari looked away from him for a second and held the potion bottle tightly within her grasp.

"I'm not as mad with him as I am with my mother" she admitted.

"It just bugs me that she never said anything when I last saw her. Why didn't she tell me that I had to defeat my father? Why did she lie to me and kept me in the dark like that? How could she do this to her own daughter?"

Sora looked at Donald and Goofy; who simply shrugged, saying they didn't know what to say.

The keyblade master rubbed his head in a nervous manner.

"Maybe…she was afraid to see how you would react" he suggested.

"I'm sure she wanted to tell you…but maybe she was afraid that you would hate her for it I'm sure that's what any parent would think if they had to keep their children's origins a secret. I think she just wanted to protect you from the truth"

Hikari scoffed at that.

"Yeah, well that plan really backfired" she said.

"I still found out anyway, and from my _father _no less!" she said father as if it were some type of poison.

"Why did this have to happen? I was better off not knowing who my dad was and just defeating the enemy so I could get Riku and my mom back! I just wish that this was a nightmare so I can wake up and have everything right again!"

She buried her face into her knees and sobbed quietly.

She was tired, stressed out and just about had enough at this point. It was like she was drowning in her own sorrows and there was no way that she could reach the surface in time. All she wanted was to get away from this and live the way that she used to before all this madness happened.

All she wanted was to be with Riku again. Everything seemed right when she was with him. She didn't need to worry about feeling safe or being hurt. She always felt safe and secured whenever Riku was around. He was her light within the darkness. It didn't matter to her that he gave into the darkness and nearly destroyed them. If she were in his shoes, she would probably do the same thing. She just wanted to see him so bad that it was hurting her. How long could she go on without seeing those beautiful aquatic blue eyes? How long could she endure without hearing that husky voice of his?

This was utter torture and she wanted it to stop.

Sora rubbed her back in a soothing matter. It tore him up to see her spirit so shattered like this. She was always the one who cheered everyone up when they were down and told them to never give up. But to have to see her on the negative side just broke his heart. He promised Riku that he would take care of her until they were reunited. How could he do that when she looked like she was on the verge of giving up?

He couldn't let this happen to her. Not now. Especially when they were almost at the end.

"Hikari…" he began.

"Don't tell me not to cry!" the keyblade mistress choked out.

"I've been keeping my emotions bottled up for this whole journey and I just can't hold it in any longer! I want this fight to end. I want my father gone. I want my mom to tell me the truth. And most of all I want Riku back!"

She buried her face deeper within her knees and silently cried.

Sora looked at the others helplessly, but they too wore the same looks on their faces.

"Try to calm her down" Donald whispered.

"This ship runs on smiling faces, remember"

"Just say things that'll make her happy" Goofy suggested.

Sora gulped slightly and looked back at Hikari. He had never cheered a girl up before and it made him wonder if he'll ever have a chance with Kairi like this.

Swallowing his pride, he placed a hand on her knee and gave it a light squeeze.

"I can't tell to stop crying" he admitted.

"But you can't let this get the best of you. You've come this far wearing a strong face, so don't give up now. It's like you always say: you've come too far to quit now"

Hikari's crying calmed down a little, but she still wouldn't stop.

Sora sighed and continued.

"I know you're hurt with everything that's happened" he said.

"You feel lost, confused, and most of all, betrayed. I don't know why your mom didn't say anything about who your dad was, but I'm sure she had her reasons. I know you're really hurt with all of this, but think about what she's probably feeling. You forgot who your dad was and all the horrible things that he did, but she didn't. She remembers them as if it were yesterday and probably wishes that she forgot too. Maybe she never planned on telling you who your dad was because she thought you were better off not knowing. She probably wanted to give you a clean start. One with no dark, shady past. You can be mad at her, but don't hate her for what's happened"

Hikari had finally stopped crying. She pulled her face up to show it all tear streaked.

"I don't…hate her" she said quietly.

"I'm just lost. I can understand why she wouldn't want to tell me, but what I don't get was why she would willingly let me defeat my dad's heartless and not say anything. Why would she keep her mouth shut when she knew there was a chance that I would remember?"

"That's something you'll probably have to ask her yourself" Sora said.

"But in the meantime, don't think about and think of getting Riku back. And we get to see Leon, so you should be happy, despite him not saying anything"

Goofy went over and pulled her cheeks so it looked like she saw smiling.

"C'mon! Smile!" he said.

Hikari giggled a little and swatted his hands away.

"Ok, ok, I get it. No more sad faces" she said.

"Being sad and depressed won't finish this fight"

She gave Sora a small smile.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up" she said.

Sora smiled in return and shrugged.

"Hey, what are friends for?" he said.

"Now just sit back and enjoy the ride. And maybe clean your face up. I don't want Leon thinking that I made you cry and have him chasing me with that gunblade of his"

Hikari giggled and wiped her eyes.

"Got it" she said.

She relaxed in her seat and closed her eyes in exhaustion. All that crying really wore her out and she wanted nothing more than to take a little nap.

As she dozed off to snooze land, her memoires reached the surface.

/

_Hikari looked around the castle in search of her father. She hadn't seen him in a couple of days and it made her worry. Her father always came home after a long day in the lab. He would always come back with a tired smile on his face and let her sit in his lap._

_But for the past week, he never came home and it made her wonder if he was alright or not._

_She peered through the dark hallway and strained her vision through the darkening hallway._

"_Daddy?" she called out._

_She slowly walked through the hallway and fiddled with the hem of her dress as she looked around._

_The halls were so dark and gloomy, that it made her skin crawl. She could have sworn that she heard some noises coming from behind her._

_Whipping her head around, she looked to see if anyone was following her, but didn't see anything._

_Whimpering, she turned around and trekked further down the dark hallway._

_The noise came again and seemed to be closer this time._

_Hikari looked behind her again and paled when she saw two glowing eyes. She never knew that it was a heartless, but she didn't care at that point._

_Letting out a scream, she quickly ran down the hallway to get away from the heartless. The heartless chased after her, not caring that its meal was on the run. Hikari had tears in her eyes as she ran. She kept calling out for her father, but nobody came._

_As she ran, her foot snagged on a loose piece of carpet and made her fall. Hikari whimpered and looked behind her to see the heartless was about a foot away before it jumped for her._

_She screamed and covered her head, thinking that this would be her last moment alive._

_She heard the heartless hiss for a second before hearing something slash through it._

_Craning an eye open, she saw her father standing protectively in front of her with a glowing stick in his hand. The man had a grim look on his face as he saw the heartless disappear._

_He dismissed his weapon and turned to his daughter, to see her sitting up on her scraped knees. _

_Hikari whimpered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She was happy that she found her dad, but she didn't like it that he wore an emotionless expression on his face. It was as if he wasn't glad that she was here._

_She bit her lip nervously, thinking that she was going to get yelled at._

_Her father sighed and knelt in front of her so he wouldn't look so intimidating._

"_Are you alright, Hikari?" he asked._

_Hikari blinked for a few moments, before breaking down crying and running into her father's chest. She was so scared to be in this dark hallway and that heartless simply put her on edge._

_Her father rubbed her back to try to calm her down. _

_She never saw it, but his eyes went gold for a second before they went back to their normal color._

"_There, there, Hikari" he said._

_He picked her up and walked down the dark hallway so they would reach somewhere brighter._

_Hikari sniffled as they walked. She was glad that her father was holding her safely, but his grasp didn't hold that usual warmth. Instead, it was replaced with nothingness._

_Her father rest his head on top hers as they got closer to the light._

"_Don't worry, Hikari " he said._

"_Daddy will always be here to protect you"_

/

Hikari's eyes scrunched in frustration as she remembered that day. She never understood why her father acted to alienated around her or why a heartless was after her.

Now that she thought about it, maybe Xemnas released the heartless in hopes of capturing a heart and didn't realize that he was after his daughter's. But then again, it shouldn't have mattered. He used her heart in order to open the door to darkness.

Just thinking about her dad made her really mad. Why did she have to remember him?

She tried to take her mind off of him and thought of a time when she was little with Riku.

/

_The group decided to sleep over on the small island one random day. Since they were old enough to stay on the island by themselves, they wanted to use that freedom to their advantage._

_Hikari thought it was fun. This would be her first sleepover since she arrived to the islands. _

_Everyone had fun swimming and sword fighting. They went fishing and made smores in front of an open fire even. _

_But when it came to bedtime, Hikari was in full panic mode. They would be sleeping in the club house that was built on the island, and they didn't have electricity. No electricity meant no night light. Hikari was utterly afraid of the dark that she couldn't sleep at night unless she had on a nightlight or two. She knew it was babyish, but it made her feel safe._

_She looked at Sora, Riku and Kairi, who were sound asleep in their sleeping bags. They looked so at peace that they didn't seem to care that they were in the dark._

_Hikari looked around the little hut to see if she could find any bit of light. The only source of light that the hut provided was from the moonlight in the doorway, and even that wasn't enough._

_Hikari shook slightly as she curled into a ball in her sleeping bag. She wished that she wasn't so afraid of the dark, but she couldn't help it. Every time she was in the dark, she kept seeing images of these black blobs with yellow eyes. It scared her, thinking that they might come and get her._

_When she let out a tiny whimper, she woke Riku up. The silver haired boy opened up a tired eye to see Hikari shivering in her sleeping bag. That caused him to wake up completely and made him sit up._

"_Hikari?" he called out softly._

_The young girl jumped at seeing Riku up. She didn't realize that she woke him up and immediately felt bad._

_Riku carefully stepped over Sora and Kairi's sleeping forms and knelt in front of her. Hikari slowly sat up and looked at her lap. She was too embarrassed to look him in the eye._

_Riku raised an eyebrow at her reaction then realized what was going on._

"_You're afraid of the dark?" he asked, but it sounded like a statement._

_Hikari blushed and nodded._

"_It's so scary" she said quietly. _

"_You never know what could be lurking in the shadows. There could be monsters just waiting to jump at you when you least expect it. I can't sleep, unless I have a nightlight on. I know it's babyish, but I can't help it. That's how scared I am"_

_She curled herself into a ball and shivered._

_Riku blinked at few times. He never realized that she would be afraid of something so simple. But he figured it had to do with her losing her memories, so he didn't couldn't blame her. He was sure he would be afraid of the dark if that happened to him. _

_When he saw that Hikari wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon, he came up with an idea._

_Grabbing his sleeping bag, he grabbed Hikari's hand and led her to the deck of the club house. He set his sleeping bag down and smiled at Hikari._

"_Here we go" he said._

_He pointed towards the night sky which was filled with stars._

"_Since you can't use a nightlight, you can use the stars" he said._

_Hikari looked in awe as she saw so many glimmering lights dance across the sky. It was so breathtaking._

_She looked at Riku and blushed. She couldn't believe that he would be so nice about this and wanted to help. It made her feel special almost._

_Riku smirked at her reaction and set her sleeping bag up next to his._

"_I'll stay with you tonight" he said._

"_So that way, if these monsters you're afraid of come by, they'll have to get through me first"_

_Hikari blushed some more before going to her sleeping bag and sliding in it._

_Riku followed after and placed his hands behind his head._

_Hikari pulled the sleeping bag up to her chin and looked at Riku._

"_Thank you, Riku" she said._

_Riku smiled softly at her._

"_No prob" he said._

"_That's what friends are for?"_

_Hikari smiled softly before snuggling into her pillow._

_That night, the two of them slept under the stars, while they were protected by their radiant light._

/

That made Hikari feel a lot better. Anything that dealt with Riku could always put a smile on her face.

He treated her so nicely as kids, that she almost felt like a princess. This was why she loved him so much. Even though he could act tough and cool, he really did have a gentle heart. She was drowning in her own sorrows and confusion when she arrived to the islands, and he pulled her out. She didn't think that she could ever repay to such kindness.

But since he was out there somewhere, probably drowning in his battle with the darkness, it was her turn to pull him out. He always helped her out when they were kids, now it was her turn to help him.

Because that's what you did when you're in love with someone.

With that thought in mind, Hikari's heart was at east for the time being.

/

Heartless were running all over the place when they arrived at Hollow Bastion. It seemed that nothing had changed since they were here last time; which worried the group.

"Wait a sec; I thought everything was supposed to be under control?" Sora asked.

Just then, one of the claymores that Cid created appeared. It seemed to be reacting differently than it normally would.

"Must be Organization Xlll again" Hikari said.

"We better go see, Ni-san"

They quickly left the market place and headed for Merlin's house. Surely the group would know what was going on.

When they got to the house, they were surprised to see heartless that were from Space Paranoids. There was no way that a programmed heartless would be able to appear in the real world.

The group didn't have time to ponder on that notion because they had to get rid of these things fast.

As they were fighting, they noticed that the claymore weren't helping them fight the heartless, but rather were fighting _them _instead. They had to jump out of the way so they wouldn't get hit by the device while still getting rid of the heartless.

When they vanished, Yuffie slowly opened the door and peered outside. She looked relieved when she saw the others and pulled them inside.

"Come on in!" she said quickly.

"Wait a sec…" Hikari said.

"What happened to this place?"

"Didn't the heartless look like the ones from Tron's world?" Goofy added.

Yuffie just pulled them along.

"Just come inside!" she said.

They were pulled in to see Mikomi and Cid hovering over the computer. Cid was typing away furiously while Mikomi hovered over his shoulder and pointed out things that he did wrong.

"You typed in the wrong code" Mikomi said.

"I know what I'm doing!" Cid insisted.

Mikomi just sighed and hip checked him out of the way and typed the right code into the computer.

"This is why you never let old people work on machines" she said.

Cid gave her a dirty look as he chewed on his tooth pick.

"You keep that attitude of yours up, Cloud won't be the only one who will punish you for that mouth of yours" he snapped.

"Keep dreaming, gramps" Mikomi said without looking at him.

Cid was about to say something, but stopped when he saw the group come in.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"Talk about yer good timin'!" Cid said.

"The MCP is wreaking havoc inside the computer" Mikomi said.

Everyone slumped as they heard that.

Of course the MCP would mess things up while they were gone.

"Not again!" Donald whined.

"According to Leon anyway…" Cid said.

"He went on over to Ansem's study to find out what all the ruckus was all about. Turns out the MCP is using the data in that computer to crank out heartless. The MCP's been messin' around with the town's control system, too"

"That MCP sure doesn't know when to quit, does it?" Yuffie said.

"That's a computer for ya" Mikomi said as she went back to typing at the computer.

Hearing about this shook everyone to the core. If the MCP was creaking heartless within the program, then there was a possibility that they could unleash them to the other worlds.

"How's Tron doing?" Sora asked.

There was no way that he would let this happen…unless the MCP did something to him.

"We can't reach him" Yuffie said.

"We figured he must have been forced into the game grid"

"And it doesn't sound like a particularly fun game either" Cid added.

Everyone shuddered as they remembered the game grid. They were lucky to get out of that alive.

"We'll go check on Tron" Sora said.

Everyone nodded in gratitude.

"We're putting together an MCP Eradication program" Cid said.

"More like I am" Mikomi scoffed.

Cid ignored her.

"And I have a hunch that it's almost finished" he said.

"Well I hope your hunch is right for once" Merlin said.

Cid glared at the wizard.

"Listen, we're gonna need Tron's help when the Eradicator's finished" Yuffie said.

Sora smiled.

"Don't sweat it" he said.

"We'll make sure to tell Tron"

"Remember-we're counting on you" Merlin said.

The group nodded at that.

Just as they were about to leave, Hikari spotted Pooh's storybook. She had collected the lost pages during their travels while the others didn't do anything-again.

She grabbed Sora's arm and dragged him over to the book.

"We have to make sure Pooh and the others are alright" she said.

Sora made a face.

"But Hikari, Tron is waiting for us" he said.

"I know that, but Pooh needs us too" Hikari insisted.

"And this is your fault that the pages went missing"

Sora pouted but allowed Hikari to pull him towards the book.

The sorceress magically put the pages back together.

"That should do it" she said.

"Now let's see if Pooh remembers us"

They stepped back and let the book suck them in to the world within the pages.

/

The keyblade master's landed at Piglet's house when they came into the book. The place was really windy, but that didn't bother them.

Hikari was squealing at the thought of seeing her little pig friend. She just couldn't wait until she could cuddle up with him and hold him in her arms. Maybe this time, she could try to smuggle him out and bring her back to the islands.

Sora just sweat dropped at the sight. He always found it weird when she would go into 'cuteness overload' mode. But since she was happy for the time being, he decided not to say anything.

As they walked closer to the house, they noticed Pooh standing around with Gopher.

"Say, what's wrong, sonny?" Gopher asked.

Pooh turned around and looked at his friend.

"Oh, I was just thinking…and-and wondering" he said.

"You should be skedaddlin' outta here" Gopher pointed out.

"Why?" Pooh asked.

"Why? Because it's Windsday, of course!" Gopher replied.

With that, he went back into his gopher hole.

"Windsday?" Pooh asked.

"Well then, happy Windsday! I think I shall wish everyone a happy Windsday"

He started walking, but stopped when he realized something.

"Oh bother. Let's see now. Who's 'everyone'?"

He sat down and started to think.

That was the site that Sora and Hikari saw when they arrived at the house.

A strong gust of wind blew past them and made an empty honey pot smash into the back of Sora's head.

"Ouch!" he cried.

Hikari stifled a giggle, but it turned into a horrified gasp when she saw Piglet getting blow into the wind like a leaf. The poor pig was terrified as he blew past.

"Oh help, help!" he cried.

"Somebody save me!"

"Piglet!" Hikari cried.

The little pig was able to grab onto a branch of his house and held on for dear life. He looked relieved when he saw Sora and Hikari.

"Sora! Hikari! Help! Please!" he cried.

"Hang on!" Hikari said.

She shoved Sora out of the way and ran quickly towards the house. She held her arms out when she was underneath the poor thing.

"Jump into my arms!" she said.

Piglet did just that, and landed safely within her arms.

Now that he was safe, Hikari had the chance to cuddle with her little friend like there was no tomorrow. She really missed the tiny pig. Piglet didn't seem to mind since he held onto her for dear life anyway.

"There you go" Hikari cooed.

"Thank you, Hikari" Piglet said as he buried his face into her shirt.

He looked up when he saw Pooh coming towards them.

"Oh! Here comes Pooh" he said.

He jumped from Hikari's arms and went up to his best friend.

"Pooh! You're alright" Sora said.

They hoped that retrieving all of the pages would make him remember everyone.

Pooh smiled at them.

"Why hello!" he said.

"It's nice to meet you all. Happy Windsday"

Piglet looked shocked when he heard this. It seemed that Pooh didn't remember anything.

"Nice to m-meet you?" he asked.

"But, Pooh. It's me, Piglet. Don't you remember me?"

"And us too!" Hikari insisted.

"Don't you remember us?"

Pooh gave her a kind smile.

"We are? " he asked.

"Hmmm….it seems I can't remember"

Piglet suddenly became sad at that. His best friend forgot all about him.

"Oh, Pooh. That's v-v-very sad"

Hikari got teary eyed at the sight of Piglet looking so sad while he walked away. Nothing as cute as him should look so heartbroken.

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew by and swept Piglet up.

"Goodbye, Sora! Goodbye, Hikari!" Piglet cried sadly.

"Goodbye, Pooh!"

Hikari looked horrified as her little pig friend grew smaller and smaller.

Piglet!" she cried.

Owl flew by and saw what was going on.

"Oh my. That looks rather fun, doesn't it?" Pooh said.

"I say, it seems we have a rather serious predicament!" Owl said as he landed.

"Hikari, would you mind going after poor Piglet?"

Hikari wore a determined look on her face.

"Nobody as cute as Piglet should get blown away like that!" she said.

"They need to be cuddled with daily!"

Sora sweat dropped at that.

She lost it.

Owl held up a large balloon and gave it to her.

"Use this to reach Piglet. It might help"

Hikari nodded as she grabbed the balloon and picked Pooh up.

"C'mon, Pooh! We have a cute little pig to rescue!"

Pooh just smiled.

"Whatever you say, Miss. Somebody-I-don't-know" he said.

They took off in the air and flew through the breeze. Pooh rode on Hikari's back while she batted away flying objects with her keyblade.

"Out of my way, you stupid beehives!" she cried.

"I've got a piglet to save!"

Pooh smiled as he watched Hikari hacked away at flying objects like a mad woman.

"You're really good, Miss. Somebody-I-don't-know" he said.

Hikari just nodded in response as she dived further towards the ground. She found it odd that she was traveling through the air with only a balloon, but she didn't care. As long as she was able to save Piglet, she wouldn't care if she used a paper airplane. Only if it meant that she could save her little piggy friend.

When she spotted Piglet, she used her magic to push them further in the air.

"Piglet!" Hikari cried.

Piglet saw her and tried to reach out for her.

"Hikari!" he cried.

Hikari gripped Pooh and let go of the balloon so she could lung for Piglet. She managed to wrap her arm around the tiny pig as they crash landed into the tree that made his house. Hikari made sure they didn't get hurt, but as they were crashing through the branches, Piglet was free from her grasp and landed on one of the branches. Hikari landed to the ground with a heavy thud, but made sure Pooh didn't get hurt, before looking up at Piglet.

Since Hikari was a little stunned from crash landing into the ground, Sora decided to rescue Piglet. He held his arms out and stood underneath the branch.

"Jump down, Piglet!" he said.

"I'll catch you!"

Piglet gulped, but did what he was told.

As he was falling, the wind blew him away from Sora and towards Pooh. The teddy bear held his arms up and caught Piglet as he landed towards him.

He gave the pig a kind smile as he sat him down.

"Oh, that was rather frightening" he said.

"I do hope you're alright, Piglet"

Everyone looked surprised when he said Piglet's name.

"Oh, P-Pooh!" Piglet said.

"You remembered my name? You really, truly remembered? "

"Of course, Piglet" Pooh said obviously.

"But today I think I shall call you 'my friend Piglet who is very brave'!"

Piglet looked surprised at that.

"Me? Very brave? No…" he said.

"But it's easy to be brave when I have a wonderful friend like you, Pooh bear!"

Sora and Hikari smiled at the sight. They were relieved that Pooh remembered his friend. Maybe he would be able to remember them as well.

"We're happy for you guys" Sora said.

Pooh nodded and smiled to Hikari.

"Oh, and thank you for rescuing my friend Piglet…Miss. Somebody-I-don't-know" he said.

Sora and Hikari's head slumped at that. So he didn't remember them yet.

"Uh, sure. Don't mention it" Hikari said.

Sora just shrugged and gave her a lop sided grin.

"Hey, we have more pages to go through" he said.

"He'll remember us in no time"

Hikari sighed at that, but agreed with him.

They left Piglet's place and went for the next section of the book.

/

The next stop them made was at Rabbit's house. Everything seemed to be in order with the vegetables growing in the garden to the laundry hanging on the clothes line.

"I wonder if Pooh's here." Hikari asked.

Sora pointed towards something up in the sky and saw Pooh floating on a balloon.

"There he is" he said.

Pooh floated towards the side of Rabbit's house and started to descend. Piglet came by and saw the scene unfold.

"Oh, d-d-d-dear!" he said.

Hikari immediately picked him up and held him close to her chest. Sora just shook his head when he saw that she was in 'la-la land' again.

"C'mon" he said.

They quickly ran to the side of Rabbit's house so they could catch Pooh before he hurt himself.

Pooh landed safely to the ground; however, he landed on Eeyore's house.

Sora and Hikari quickly ran towards them to see if they were alright.

"Eeyore, Pooh. Are you ok?" Sora asked.

Hikari looked at Eeyore's broken house sadly. It seemed whenever they saw him, his house was ruined.

"Gosh, that's too bad, Eeyore" she said.

"After all that work…"

Eeyore had a glum look on his face as usual.

"No matter" he said.

"Most likely would have fallen down anyway"

"We'll help you fix your house up, Eeyore" Piglet said.

Eeyore gave him a slight nod in acknowledgment.

"Thanks for offerin'" he said.

"But I wouldn't want to spoil your fun day, though"

Pooh got and brushed himself off. He smiled at his friends as he trotted over towards them.

"Hello, Piglet" he said.

He looked at Eeyore.

"And hello, Somebody-I-don't-know"

Sora and Hikari sighed sadly.

"Pooh, this is Eeyore" Sora said.

"You know Eeyore, don't you?"

Pooh rubbed his head.

"Um, do I?" he asked.

Everyone figured it wasn't worth trying to correct him. He would figure it out on his own.

"I wonder what's with him?" Hikari asked.

Piglet thought of something.

"Oh! I know" he said.

"Maybe Pooh's tummy is so rumbly that it's making him forget. If we bring him some honey, he's sure to remember!"

That did make sense. People tended to not think straight when they were hungry.

"Well…I guess it's worth a shot" Sora said.

"Might work" Eeyore said.

"Prob'ly not"

"First, we got to find some honey" Hikari said.

They looked around the place to see if they could find a stray honey pot.

"If honey's what you're looking for, I know just the place" Eeyore said.

"Follow me"

Everyone followed the donkey as he headed towards the back of the house. Rabbit was seen piling up a stack of honey pots.

"Splendid, just splendid" Rabbit said to himself.

He walked away to get more honey while the others came around the corner.

Eeyore motioned to the pile of honey pots.

"This is the place I told you about" he said.

"Wow! Look at that" Sora said.

When Pooh saw the honey, he quickly went right to it. He had a one track mind when it came to his honey.

"How yummy for my tummy!" he said.

He plopped himself down in front of the honey and grabbed one of the pots.

Piglet fidgeted in Hikari's arms.

"But doesn't that honey belong to someone?" he asked.

His words fell on deaf ears since Pooh stuffed his face into the honey pot. The contents of the jar were gone within a matter of minutes and Pooh was already onto his next one.

After finishing all of the honey, Pooh was satisfied with his snack and rubbed his large tummy.

"His stomach is going to be in a knot for a while" Hikari said.

Sora nodded in agreement.

Just then, Rabbit came by with another jar of honey to go with his collected. But when he saw that Pooh at them all, he dropped it.

"Oh, no!" he cried.

"My honey!"

Everyone gave him an apologetic grin, clearly showing that they didn't mean for this to happen.

Rabbit had his eyes drilled on Pooh.

"Pooh, did you eat ALL my honey?" he asked.

Pooh just smiled as he rubbed his tummy.

"Oh, hello" he said.

"It's nice to meet you"

Rabbit gave him a confused look. Pooh never acted like this way before.

"What did you say?" he asked.

Pooh didn't pay attention and just focused on the honey pot that Rabbit pick up.

"Is that for me?" he asked.

He went over and took the honey from him and started to eat it.

Rabbit's head fell in defeat. No matter how hard he tried to hide his honey, Pooh would always find it.

"Oh, I was sure I'd found a safe place for it, too…" he said.

Sora rubbed his head nervously.

"Sorry. It's our fault" he said.

"We brought Pooh here" Hikari added.

Rabbit gave them a weak smile.

"Oh, hello Sora and Hikari. It's nice to see you again" he said.

"Same here…we're really sorry" Hikari said.

Rabbit sighed.

"It's quite alright" he said.

"I know Pooh can't be stopped when he gets this hungry"

When Pooh finished his honey, he looked at Rabbit.

"Pardon me, Somebody-I-don't-know" he said.

"Is there any more?"

That startled Rabbit completely. He figured Pooh was in his snack mode before and just wanted to get his honey, but to forget who his friend was, was an entirely different thing.

"Are you feeling alright, Pooh?" he asked.

"Could you have really forgotten about me? What on earth is going on?"

Pooh just rubbed his tummy.

"Is there any more honey?" he asked again.

"You see, my tummy's rumbly"

Rabbit nodded in understanding.

"That's it! He's so hungry, he can't remember a thing!" he insisted.

"We thought that too" Piglet said.

"Then let's stuff this bear full of honey!" Rabbit declared.

Sora and Hikari sweat dropped at that.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up" Sora said.

Hikari nodded.

"But I thought Pooh ate all your honey, Rabbit?" she said.

"Oh, I have more" Rabbit said.

"Must have emergency rations. But I hid then too well"

Sora stretched out his muscles and looked at Hikari.

"Looks like it's my turn to have some fun" he said.

Hikari smirked.

"Knock yourself out" she said.

Sora went up to Pooh and an empty honey pot and brought them with him up a hill. Sora got on the pot like it was a sled and had Pooh riding on his shoulders.

"Here we go"

He slid down the hill while he picked up sections of honey that were hidden all over the place.

Hikari cheered them on while she held onto Piglet tightly.

"Way to go, Sora!" she said.

She looked at Piglet and nuzzled him with her face.

"Would you like to go on a ride, too?" she asked.

Piglet gulped and shook his head.

"No thank you" he said.

"I would rather be held"

Hikari giggled and hugged him.

"You don't have to tell me that twice" she said.

When Sora and Pooh came back, they had tons of honey.

"There now, Pooh" Rabbit said.

"Have just as much as you'd like"

Pooh smiled at the thought of having more honey.

"Why thank you!" he said.

He stuffed his face with the honey while his friends watched him. When he finished, he looked at Rabbit.

"Pardon me, Somebody" he said.

"But do you know where I might find another smackeral or two of honey?"

Everyone's heads fell at that. After eating all of that honey, he still didn't remember them.

Pooh got up and headed for the rabbit hole that lead inside of Rabbit's house.

"My tummy seems to be telling me there's some honey right in there" he said.

He tried climbing through the hole, but he got stuck half way through.

"Oh bother. I'm stuck" Pooh said.

"Not again" Sora muttered.

Rabbit shook his head sadly.

"He still doesn't remember" he muttered.

"What in the world has gotten into Pooh Bear?"

"Whatever it is, we better help him" Hikari said.

"And pull him out so he's not clogging up your house"

Everyone grabbed onto Pooh and tugged him out of the hole.

"One…two…three!"

Pooh went flying and landed on his rump. Everyone quickly ran up to him to make sure he was ok.

"You're ok, Pooh" Sora said.

"I wouldn't be so sure on that" Rabbit said.

"Why, just-look at him! He doesn't even remember who I am. Perhaps it's all this blustery wind, or-or maybe he actually needs more honey! Or he's-he's sleepwalking and-and dreaming"

It seemed that Rabbit was becoming depressed with being forgotten. Even though Pooh got on his nerves for stealing all of his honey, he was still his friend.

Pooh smiled and went up to Rabbit.

"Well, if I am dreaming-which I suppose I could be-I hope I get to the part where you invite me to lunch again very soon, Rabbit"

Rabbit looked surprised, yet relieved that Pooh remembered him.

"You called me 'Rabbit'!" he cried.

"Well, of course, Rabbit" Pooh replied.

"What about Eeyore?" Piglet asked.

"Do you remember Eeyore, too, Pooh?"

Pooh nodded and looked at the little donkey.

"Hello there, Eeyore" he said.

"It's ever so nice to see you today"

"Thanks for noticing me, Pooh Bear" Eeyore said.

Sora and Hikari looked at Pooh hopefully. If he remembered Rabbit and Eeyore, then he had to remember them.

"And hello to you, too" Pooh said.

"Somebodies- I – don't-know"

The keyblade master's sighed sadly. So he still didn't remember.

"Well, at least he remembered Rabbit and Eeyore" Sora said.

"And we still have a few pages to go through"

With that, they left Rabbit's house and headed for the next section of the book, which happened to be Kanga and Roo's home.

/

Pooh and Piglet were already at the kangaroo home when they got there.

"Hi!" Sora said.

Piglet greeted them when they got closer.

"Hello, Somebodies- I-don't-know" Pooh added.

Kanga bounced over to them and held up a bottle of medicine.

"Eeyore told me Pooh wasn't quite himself" Kanga said.

"I thought this might be just what the poor dear needed"

"Yeah, I hope it'll make Pooh feel better!" Roo said.

Just then, Tigger came bouncing along, singing the tigger song.

He stopped bouncing when he saw the medicine bottle that Kanga was holding.

"A present!" he cried.

"For me? Why, presents are what Tiggers like best! And it's not even my birthday!"

He took the bottle and started hopping away.

"But Tigger! That's not for you!" Kanga insisted.

Sora quickly went after and stopped him before he left. They explained that the medicine was for Pooh and that he forgot about everyone.

"You're saying Pooh even forgot about ME!" Tigger said.

"Yes, Tigger" Piglet said.

"That bottle you thought was a present was medicine to make Pooh feel better" Sora said.

Tigger looked at the medicine bottle and just waved it off.

"Aww, who needs medicine?" he stated.

"Why, some tiggeriffic bouncing will jog his memory for sure!"

He bounced around them and looked at Pooh.

"Well, Pooh?"

Pooh smiled and nodded.

"That looks like fun, Somebody-I-don't-know" he said.

They all went over to the giant trampoline that Roo had in his backyard and got on it.

Sora had Pooh on his shoulders while Hikari held onto Piglet. The little pig shook at the thought of being so high up in the air.

"I don't like this" he said.

Hikari just gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you" she said.

"You're safe with me"

Piglet felt reassured when he heard that and snuggled into Hikari's arms.

Tigger and Roo jumped on the trampoline and started bouncing.

"Ready everyone?" Tigger asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Then let's bounce!"

Everyone started bouncing flipped through the air. Sora managed to flip through the air while he still had Pooh on his shoulders. Hikari giggled as she just bounced so Piglet wouldn't get scared. Tigger and Roo laughed as they jumped higher and higher into the sky. Everyone was having fun as they tried to see who would bounce the highest.

When they got tired, they got off and headed back to the front of the house.

Tigger looked proud about his idea and just had a feeling that it worked.

"I bet you remember me now, don't you, buddy-bear!" he said.

Pooh just looked at him.

"Well, I remember that bouncing always makes me hungry" he stated.

Tigger hung his head in defeat.

"All that bouncing and he still doesn't remember me?" he asked sadly.

"Well then, I guess boucin's not the answer"

He slowly walked away in a dejected matter.

"It makes a Tigger almost never wanna bounce again…" he muttered.

Pooh went up to him.

"But Tigger. I always thought that bouncing was what Tiggers did best" he said.

Tigger whipped around with a huge grin on his face.

"Pooh boy!" he cried.

"Why remember me. You do remember you ol' buddy Tigger after all!'

He started bouncing again in a joyous matter. It was a happy moment for all of them. Well, sort of. Even though Pooh remember all of his friends, he still didn't remember Sora and Hikari.

They just hoped that he would remember soon.

/

That night, as Pooh slept, he had a strange dream.

He dreamed that he and his friends were sitting by a hill at night and were waving good-bye to these two individuals.

Pooh couldn't see who they were, but he saw that they were a boy and a girl.

"I wonder who they are?" Pooh asked himself.

When he couldn't think who they were, he just drifted off to sleep.

"Oh well" he thought.

"Perhaps…I'll remember tomorrow"

/

Sora and Hikari found themselves in a cave on the next page. It was dark and scary, which make Hikari a little skittish, but she didn't let it show.

Everyone was in the cave surprisingly, but they noticed that Pooh wasn't with them.

"Where's Pooh?" Sora asked.

"He went in there" Piglet said as he pointed deeper into the cave.

"Do you think there might be a jagular hiding inside?" Rabbit asked.

"Jagular…well, now" Owl said.

"That reminds me of when my dear cousin Alphonse-"

"Say, why are you all sitting around here?" Hikari interrupted.

She figured no one wanted to hear Owl's story and she was curious as to why everyone was just standing around doing nothing.

"If you're so worried about Pooh, let's go find him!" Sora insisted.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Tigger said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Roo cheered.

"But if there really is a jagular, we'd better think this through" Rabbit pointed out.

Sora pumped his fist.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of anything that comes in the way" he said.

Hikari used her keyblade as a flashlight and had the tip light up.

"Follow us!" she cheered.

They carefully went through the creepy cave in search for their teddy bear friend. It was a little dangerous with the loose rocks that fell and a couple of bees that flew by, but other than that, nothing bad happened.

Sora and Hikari made sure everyone was together so they wouldn't get lost in the cave. They didn't want to do a search for anyone else but Pooh.

After much searching, they finally found Pooh sitting on a stone slab in this crystal like area.

"Pooh! There you are! " Sora cried.

Everyone ran up to him in relief.

"We looked everywhere for you" Hikari said.

Pooh looked at them when he stopped thinking.

"I was looking for very dear friends of mine that I remember that I made a very important promise to" he said.

Sora and Hikari gave him a weak smile. He was willing to risk himself getting hurt just so he could find his friends.

"So, did you find them?" Hikari asked as she knelt down in front of him.

Pooh shook his head sadly.

"No, I looked and I looked. But they don't seem to be anywhere" he said.

Tigger suddenly pounced him to the ground.

"Oh, Pooh boy!" he cried.

"So there you are"

Pooh got up and dust himself off.

"But Tigger, did you have to bounce me so…bounce-ily?" he asked.

Tigger just laughed good heartedly.

"Gosh, I thought a jagular had gotten ya!" he said.

Pooh gasped.

"Oh dear" he said.

"I hadn't thought of that. I do hope a jagular hasn't gone and gobbled up my friends!"

Everyone gave him a sympathetic look.

"Now try to remember, Pooh" Kanga said.

"Aren't Sora and Hikari the ones you're looking for?"

Sora and Hikari gave their teddy bear friend a hopeful look. They just wished that it was them that he was trying to find.

Pooh's tummy started to rumble, which startled him.

"Oh! The jagular!" he cried.

Sora and Hikari chuckled softly.

"No, it's just your tummy grumbling" Hikari said.

Sora poked his tummy to prove their point.

"You must be hungry. C'mon…let's head home and see if we can find you some honey" he said.

Pooh rubbed his tummy at the thought of getting honey.

"It'd like that Sora and Hikari" he said.

The keyblade master's looked beyond surprised and happy when Pooh said their names.

"Pooh! You-you finally remembered!" Hikari cried.

Pooh tilted his head.

"Remembered what, Sora and Hikari?"

They just gave him a small smile.

"Pooh" Sora said.

Pooh smiled at them.

"I like it ever so much when you're cheerful" he said.

Sora and Hikari smiled softly at that.

"We do, too" Hikari said.

They held their hands out to him.

"C'mon, let's go home" Sora said.

They all walked out of the creepy cave and headed back for Pooh's home so he could have some honey.

It was good to know that Pooh finally remembered them after so long.

/

The last place that Sora and Hikari went to was at the starry hill. Memories of when they all sat up on the hill and watched the starts went through their head.

"I never realized how much I missed this place until now" Hikari said.

Sora nodded with a wistful smile on his face.

"Oh bother!"

They keyblade masters looked up at the hill to see Pooh sitting by the tree with a honey pot stuck on his head.

"Are you alright?" Sora and Hikari called out.

"Sora? Hikari? Is that you?" Pooh asked.

"Help!"

They quickly ran up to the hill and went where Pooh was at.

Sora pulled the pot off his head while Hikari cleaned the honey that got stuck to his face.

"Thank you" Pooh said.

They sat him down on a fallen log and looked up at the moon for a bit.

"So, what were you doing here?" Hikari asked.

"I was thinking" Pooh said.

"Perhaps there's a way to make it so you both won't go away"

They both looked at him.

"You mean a way to make us stay?" Sora asked.

Pooh nodded.

"Yes. Would there be such as a thing as a way to make it so you won't both go away again?" he asked.

They both looked at him sadly.

They figured he would think of this. After he remembered them, he was probably afraid that he would forget about them again.

"Pooh…" they said.

Hikari patted his head.

"Don't worry" she reassured him.

"We promise we'll come back and visit you now and then"

"Could you make it 'now and now' instead?" Pooh asked.

"That seems a bit better to me"

They chuckled weakly.

Pooh looked at them.

"Sora, Hikari, if I go looking for you, will I find you both?" he asked.

Sora pointed to Pooh's heart.

"We'll always be with you-right here" he said.

"You don't have to go anywhere. Just stay here, and you can see us anytime you want"

Pooh placed a hand over his heart.

"You mean I just have to stay right here?" he asked.

They nodded.

"Yep, that's all" Sora said.

"Would you promise?" Pooh asked.

"Promise" they said.

Hikari pulled out the blue ribbon she got from Halloween Town and held it up. She was planning on keeping it for herself to remember Riku, but now that she thought of it, Pooh needed it more. Besides, she still had her red ribbon that Riku gave her.

"Here, Pooh" she said softly.

She held up his paw and tired the ribbon into a bow.

"As long as you have this on, you'll always have a part of us here. We'll always be connected to each other, no matter what"

Pooh looked at the ribbon, then at Hikari.

"Promise?" he asked again.

Hikari nodded.

"I promise"

Piglet suddenly appeared and jumped on the log.

"I promise too!" he cried.

Everyone came over to the log as well.

"And so do Roo and I" Kanga said.

"We sure do!" Roo added.

"You're welcome to visit us anytime, Sora and Hikari" Rabbit said.

"Thanks" Hikari said.

"After all, I must tell you of my Uncle Albert's adventures at sea" Owl said.

"Guess you'll be stayin' a while" Eeyore said.

Everyone laughed at that.

"Goodbye, Sora. Goodbye, Hikari" Gopher said.

"If you ever get lonely, just start bouncin' and think of your pal Tigger!" Tigger said.

"We will, Tigger" Sora said.

Sora and Hikari stood up after they looked at the stars for a bit.

"You're leaving?" Pooh asked..

Sora nodded sadly.

"Yes. We really have to go" Sora said.

Pooh gave them a reassuring smile.

"Well, I won't be sad, because you both will always be here forever and ever"

He touched the ribbon to prove his point.

Sora and Hikari nodded.

"And all of you…are right here too" Hikari said as she pointed towards her heart.

Everyone smiled at that. Sora smiled too, but stopped when he saw that Hikari was still holding Piglet.

"Hikari" he warned.

Hikari blinked, then laughed nervously when she was caught.

"I, um, must have forgot that I was still holding him" she said.

Sora gave her a stern look.

"Put him down" he said.

"He can't come with"

Hikari gave him the pouty look.

"But-but he's so cute and little!" she insisted.

Sora pointed to the ground, showing that he wasn't having it.

Hikari sighed and placed Piglet on the ground.

"Bye, Piglet" she said.

Piglet gave her a hug when he was put down.

"Bye, Hikari. I'll miss you" he said.

Hikari got all teary eyed at this and had to let Sora drag her away before she decided to kidnap him again.

Everyone waved goodbye to their keyblade friends as they left the book.

It was a heartbreaking moment, but it had to be done.

They were sad, but they remembered that they would always be together in their hearts.

/

With the pages finally resorted back to the way they were, the book was finally complete again.

The once torn cover was now repaired with the image of Sora and Hikari sitting with Pooh and looking up at the starry sky.

Even if they weren't in the book, the memories they made would be forever in the pages along with their friends.

/

**A/N: I thought it was funny that Hikari was trying to smuggle Piglet out of the book. I guess even she can't help herself when it comes to cute stuff.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	38. Protective Brother

Chapter 38: Protective Brother

**A/N: Hey everyone! I got so many reviews about Hikari trying to steal Piglet! (heh heh) I know, it broke my heart when I had to let him go. **

**But on the upside, Hikari get's to see Leon. Will she be happy to see him, or will she chew him out for keeping the origins of their father a secret from her?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!  
**/

Sora had to pretty much drag Hikari out of Merlin's house when they left the book. He didn't want to have to go back into it and fight with her because she wanted to sneak Piglet out.

She was known for going crazy over cute things, but this was ridiculous. Couldn't she see that her world was in trouble thanks to the MCP?

Hikari just had tears pooled up in her eyes as she tried to reach for Pooh's book.

"Piglet" she whimpered.

Donald just sighed and pushed her along towards Ansem's study.

"Get over it" he said.

Hikari just whimpered and followed them along.

As soon as this mess was over, she would go back to get him.

/

When they reached the postern, they found Yuna, Rikku and Paine hovering by one of the corners, talking amongst each other.

The group figured that they should thank them since they helped out with getting rid of the heartless when they invaded the town earlier, so they went up to them.

"Hey there" Sora said.

The Gullwings looked at the group and glared at them.

"Liars!" Yuna cried.

Everyone looked confused.

Why would they be considered liars when they just said hi?

"Huh?" Hikari asked.

"Leon doesn't have any treasure!" Rikku said.

"And we fought for you guys" Paine pointed out.

Oh-that. They almost forgot that Donald lied to them about Leon having treasure so they would help out. Now they were in a load of trouble.

Goofy looked at Donald.

"Donald" he warned.

The mage held up his hands innocently.

"Well, I had to tell them something" he said.

Yuna placed her hands on her hips.

"I don't see how we're going to work this out" she said.

"So what should we do?" Hikari asked.

She felt bad that Donald dragged her brother into this, so she thought the proper thing to do was repay the Gullwings instead.

The Gullwings turned around and talked amongst themselves to see what they should think of as compensation. When they finished talking, Yuna pointed a finger at them.

"We're just going to take YOUR treasure" Yuna said.

"But we don't have anything!" Sora insisted.

Seriously, as if they had time to go gather goodies while they were protecting the worlds from darkness.

"You sure?" Paine asked.

Rikku floated over to them and examined them.

"Hmmm….let's take a look" she said.

She looked at them to see what they could offer then went back to Yuna to tell her what she found.

Yuna nodded at the idea.

"Ok, we've decided!" she said.

"The Gullwings are taking all of your items!"

Everyone's eyes bugged out at that. Were they serious? They needed all of their items in order to get through all of those fights with the heartless and nobodies. There was no way that Hikari was going to heal the group every time they got hurt. She would pass out within a minute.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Sora cried.

"There's no way that we can do that" Hikari insisted.

Yuna pouted and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh, foofie!" she pouted.

"This stinks" Rikku said.

"So not cool…"Paine sighed.

Hikari sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Look, we're sorry that we tricked you, but…"

"Forget about it" Paine said.

Everyone blinked.

"Huh?"

"Leon told us the whole story" Paine explained.

"He said your journey's been pretty rough"

"So it wouldn't really be right if we took your things" Yuna said.

"We'll root for you!" Rikku cheered.

"Here, this is from us"

They gave them an extra set of potions and exliers for them to use during their travels. (A/N: I know they give them the Gullwing keyblade, but since I didn't mention the other ones, I'm not going to bother).

"Bye! Good luck on your journey!" Yuna said.

With that, the Gullwings disappeared in a ball of light.

Everyone blinked a couple of times when they left.

"What just happened?" Hikari asked.

"I'm…not sure" Sora said.

"Well, at least they didn't take our stuff" Goofy said.

Hikari nodded and glared at Donald.

"Next time you put my brother in a situation like that, I'll roast you over a flame" she warned.

Donald just waved her off.

"Nothing happened" he said.

"Now let's go and help Tron"

They went down the steps and headed to Ansem's study, where Leon was sure to be.

/

Ansem's study was just as messy when they last saw it.

Papers were all over the place and books were toppled off from their bookshelves.

"I wonder if Leon is in the computer room" Sora said.

He started walking, but he stopped when he saw Hikari standing still. Her eyes were drilled in Xeahnort's portrait that Tifa took off the wall earlier. She looked so emotionless as she started at her father's portrait.

How could he look so calm when he brought so much despair to so many worlds? Did he not care that he put his whole family through such tragedy?

Of course not. He not only gave up his heart to darkness, but used his own daughter's to open the door to darkness.

Her fist shook at her side as all the negative feelings she felt for her father started to boil over. How could act like he did nothing wrong when he nearly killed so many people? How could he act like what he was doing was for the greater good of the worlds when all he did was bring them to ruins? Why did he think that he was the good guy? Why did he have to shatter her heart?

Sora gulped when he saw the angry look in her eyes.

"Hikari?" he asked.

He didn't get a response.

Instead, he got a strangled cry as Hikari screamed and aimed her keyblade at the portrait.

A beam of light shot out from her key and zapped the painting, blowing it to smithereens.

Everyone jumped at the action and caused Leon and Aerith to come running into the room.

Leon had his gunblade drawn, thinking it was one of the heartless. But when he saw the destroyed portrait and his sister's anguished face, he realized what had happened.

"Oh no" he muttered.

He looked at the group and nudged his head towards the lab, telling them to give them a moment.

Everyone quietly left, not wanting to make the scene any worse than it was.

Leon made sure they all left before slowly walking towards his sister. He could see Hikari shaking with anger and frustration as she started at the spot where Xehanort's painting was.

He didn't need to figure out why she lashed out like that. The look in her eyes told it all.

"You remembered…didn't you?" he asked, but made it sound like a statement.

Hikari hung her head and let her bangs fall in her face.

"More like had it hit me in the face" she said quietly.

"I had to find out that my dad is the one I've been trying to defeat. All this time, I've been related to that mad man"

Leon sadly looked at his sister. It had been a very long time since he saw that look in her eyes and he wished that he didn't have to see it.

"I never considered that monster to be our father" he said with venom in his voice.

Hikari gulped slightly to swallow her nerves.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Did you know that it was him who did all of this?" she asked.

Leon closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head.

"Not at the beginning" he said.

"At first…I thought it was grandfather, because the reports said 'Ansem' on them. But …when I looked at them closer and read the stuff from his computer…I put the pieces together and realized who it really was that did this to us. It stunned me just as much as it may have stunned you when you found out…maybe even more"

Hikari's head shot up as she looked at him with tears pooling in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she choked.

"Why didn't you tell me that our dad was the one who destroyed our world and nearly killed me? Why didn't you tell me that he was the leader of Organization Xlll and that I would have to defeat him? Why did you keep this from me?"

Leon simply looked at her with such sad eyes. His usual stoic mask was destroyed as he saw his sister breaking down in front of him.

You could stab him with a knife and he wouldn't cry. You could kick him and punch him as much as you want, and he wouldn't flinch. But if you made him face his little sister, crying her eyes out, he would crack.

That was one of the weaknesses when it came to being an older brother.

"Because I didn't want to see that pained look on your face that you have on now" he said.

Hikari looked taken aback by that, but she never said anything. She couldn't really at this point.

Leon went up to her and gripped her shoulders.

"How do you think I was supposed to tell my little sister that the enemy she had to defeat was our dad?" he asked.

"Even if I did tell you, I doubted you would believe me. You grew up thinking that our dad was the greatest person on earth that you didn't realize what his true self was like. You were so young and innocent back then, that I just couldn't tell you what he was really like. You were better off not knowing"

He used his thumb to wipe the tears that fell from her face.

"I wanted to protect as best as I could" he said.

"Even if you didn't know or remember what our dad was really like, that was fine with me. I would endure knowing his true self and motives if that meant keeping you safe and oblivious to his true intentions. I would let him hurt me if that meant he would never lay a finger on you. That's how important you are to me. You can be as mad as you want with me by not telling you the truth, but remember that I wanted to protect you"

Hikari looked her brother for a moment. She never realized that he was trying to protect her by shielding her from the horrid truth that she had to witness.

She suddenly broke down and started crying in his chest.

She felt so horrible. How could she be mad at her brother when all he was doing was trying to protect her? He wanted her to remember the Xemnas from her memoires rather than the one she saw today. By not telling her anything, he was trying to protect her childhood happiness.

Perhaps that was why Taiyouko never said anything before.

Leon wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly as she cried. He rubbed her back as sobbed into his chest.

"It's not fair!" she said through his shirt.

"How could he do this to us?"

Leon gave her forehead a peck before running a hand through her hair.

"I guess he cared more about his own needs rather than our own" he said.

"He simply saw us as pawn for his plans, rather than as his own family"

Hikari cried a bit harder at that and had to have Leon calm her down.

"I thought dads were suppose to protect their families, not use them?" she choked.

Leon simply closed his eyes.

"Yeah, well that's the funny thing about having a heart"

"You never know how much darkness lurks within them until the last minute. People can trick you into thinking that they're good and pure, but it's just a mask to hide the depths of their own sins"

Hikari clung to Leon tightly.

"I hate him…so much"

Leon smiled weakly.

"Not as much as I hate him" he said.

"I've hated him a lot longer than you have. But considering what he's done to you, I'm sure mine pales in comparison"

When Hikari calmed down to the point that Leon didn't have to hold her, she stepped back and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry you had to keep all of this to yourself" she said.

"You shouldn't have to had endure all of this on your own"

Leon gave her a weak smile and ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about it" he said.

"That's what comes with being an older brother. We would rather suffer if it meant that we could see our little sister's happy. Being able to keep you safe and see you smile is the greatest reward I could ever ask for"

Hikari smiled weakly at that.

"You're such a good brother to me, Ni-san" she said.

"I'm so lucky that I have you"

Leon smirked at that.

"I know" he said.

"And I'm so lucky that I have such a brave sister like you. Even knowing who your enemy is, you still continue forward. That's proof that you have a strong heart"

Hikari giggled a little and placed her hand over her heart.

Hearing him say that made her feel really happy. After having to feel horrible during this whole trip about Xemnas, it was nice to know that her brother loved her so much and supported her greatly.

Leon gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"C'mon. I'm sure Sora and the others are wondering if you're ok" he said.

Hikari dried the tears from her eyes and nodded.

"Right"

Leon wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they headed into the computer lab.

Hikari felt a bit better now that she knew why her brother never said anything about their dad. It showed he loved her enough that he was willing to throw away his happiness if it meant that she could still keep hers.

She smiled at that thought and hugged them before they entered the room.

"_Thank you for being my big brother"_

/

**A/N: Aww, I got a little teary eyed as I wrote this. That was so nice of Leon. He didn't want to tell his sister that their dad was a complete nut job, just so she could keep her childhood memories of him. And he's right, little kids shouldn't know the dark side of their parents as such a young age. It'll mess them up. Thumbs up to Leon for keeping Hikari safe.**

**Please review and tell me what you think! **

**Ja ne**


	39. Space Paranoids part 2

Chapter 39: Space Paranoids part 2

**A/N: Hey everyone, I want to start off by saying to say a very special prayer for Japan. I just think it's horrible that this had to happen to everyone who lives there and hope they'll pull through this. And hope that the nuclear reactors calm down so millions of people don't get radiated. **

**For the citizens who are enduring this calamity, we're praying for you.**

**On that note, this chapter is dedicated to them.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my ocs.**

**Enjoy!**

/

After Hikari calmed down, Leon brought her into the computer room so they could talk about what was going on with the MCP.

Sora explained about everything that was going on outside and said that they had to speak with Tron.

"You can't talk to Tron if this room gets taken over" Aerith said.

"Did you check in with Cid?" Leon asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Yeah, we did"

"And the Eradicator?"

"It's almost done" Donald said.

"Cid and Mikomi just have to add the finishing touches"

"Great!" Aerith said.

She turned to Leon.

"Say Leon, why don't you go work with Cid and Mikomi?" she suggested.

"I have this place under control"

Leon gave her a skeptical look. He highly doubted that she would be able to handle the computer room all by herself. Plus, he didn't want to leave the room in case Hikari decided to go into the computer.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"All by yourself?"

Aerith gave him a nasty glare that almost reminded him of his mother's. He resisted a shudder and got the point.

"It's all yours" he said.

Hikari looked at her brother.

"How's Tron?" she asked.

They were really worried about their programmed friend. If the MCP was in control of everything, then that meant Tron could be in trouble.

"We still can't get in touch with him" Leon said.

"Maybe you guys should give it a shot"

Sora shook his head.

"No, we'll go talk to him in person"

Leon nodded in understanding. That was probably the only way that they could reach him.

"Then I have a favor to ask" he said.

"When you find Tron, could you tell him to come to the I/O tower? That's where we'll upload the MCP Eradication program"

"Got it" Goofy said.

"Thanks. And watch your backs" Leon warned.

"You too, Ni-san" Hikari said.

"It's dangerous out there"

Leon gave her a small smirk. He gave her shoulder a slight squeeze as he passed by.

"Everything's going to be ok" he said quietly to her.

Hikari smirked slightly. Whenever something bad happened and she got upset, he would tell her that everything would be alright.

Leon quickly left the computer room and went to go get the disk from Cid.

Sora went up to the computer and looked at the screen.

"We'll be there soon, Tron" he said.

They activated the terminal and got digitalized within the program.

/

The pit cell was completely empty when the reach the other side. Tron was nowhere to be seen. The door was still sealed off, which meant that he didn't leave through there.

"Gawrsh, I hope Tron's ok" Goofy said.

"Me too" Hikari said.

"Let's head to the game grid and save him before he's terminated"

Sora looked at the terminal to see if it was still intact.

"Great! The terminal works!" he said.

That was good news. If it was still working, then that meant they would be able to get back into the computer room.

Sora typed in something that would lead them to the game grid.

The four of them were zapped out of the room and were transported onto the game grid, where Tron was sure to be.

/

Back in the real world, Cid was adding the finishing touches to the disk. His hands flew across the keyboard as they punched in code after code.

Mikomi hovered of his shoulder to make sure he didn't mess anything up.

"Try not to screw this up" she said.

"I don't want to fix this program again"

Cid gave her a nasty glare.

"You keep yer mouth shut" he said.

"I've been working my butt off trying to put this together and you keep belittling me"

"That's because you don't know anything about programs!" Mikomi retorted.

"Leave it to the professionals" Merlin added.

Cid was about to make a nasty comment to that, but Leon barged into the room. He appeared to be out of breath since he ran the whole way.

"Finished?" he asked.

Cid grunted and typed in the last bit of code.

"Would be, if it weren't for the old loon's magic" he said.

Merlin fumed at that comment.

"OLD loon you say?" he snapped.

"I'm trying to work here!" Cid barked.

Merlin growled and held up his wand.

"Oh ho-ho-ho, I'll show you who's old!"

He blast a bit of magic at the old pilot just as he pulled the disk out of the computer.

"Done!" he cried.

He would have been happy, but Merlin's magic hit the computer and sent him flying to the ground.

Leon held the bridge of his nose to suppress a headache. How he was able to work with these goof balls was beyond him.

"_Must have something to do with having a crazy mother" _he thought.

Cid groaned as he got up and held out the disk.

"There you go, Leon" he said.

"One homemade program. A loony wizard special"

Leon took the disk and placed it in his jacket pocket.

Now they would be able to stop the MCP.

"I'm off" he said before heading out.

"Be on your guard!" Merlin called out.

Cid backed away from the wizard when he saw the nasty look he gave him. The computer exploded from Merlin's magic and looked like it was beyond repair.

Mikomi sighed and looked at Yuffie.

"I am so not cleaning this mess up"

/

The game grid was crawling with heartless when the group entered. It seemed that the MCP wasn't going to take any chances of Tron surviving.

Sora gasped when he saw Tron trying to dodge a heartless and threw his identity disk at one.

"Tron!"

Tron grabbed his disk and saw them.

"Careful!" he called out.

"Watch out!"

Just then, a heartless blasted him and sent him to the ground.

Everyone quickly summoned up their weapons and surrounded him so the heartless wouldn't get to him.

"Hold on!" Sora said.

Everyone quickly went into action and took on the heartless. Hikari blast a few thunder spells at the larger ones while she hacked away at the smaller ones. As she was fighting, she realized that she didn't take her potion before she went into the computer. She was so upset with seeing Xemnas' picture that she didn't take it.

She thought that she should take it now, but she ended up with not to. She had been depending on the potion throughout their journey that it made her seem helpless. She didn't want to seem weak. She didn't want to depend on a silly potion in order to get through each world and fight each battle.

Putting that thought aside, she took on the heartless and helped her friends.

When Sora finished the last of the heartless, they grabbed Tron and ran for the opening in the grid to get away.

/

They quickly headed for the pit cell when they felt they were safe.

Tron looked at them with a relieved look on his face.

"You really saved me" he said.

"Don't mention it" Sora said.

"What's going on here?" Donald asked.

Tron had a grim look on his face.

"The MCP is ready to wage all-out war against the Users" he said.

"What's been happening outside?"

Hikari sighed as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Well, there's this machine for making Heartless-it's gone totally berserk…" she explained.

"The town's control system is having problems, too"

"But Cid's putting together a program that can de-rezz the MCP" Sora added.

"Once we pick it up at the I/O tower, he thinks we can use it to stop the MCP for good"

Tron looked hopeful at the sound of that.

"Let's try it!" he exclaimed.

He calmed down quickly.

"So who's Cid?" he asked.

"He's a friend of ours" Sora explained.

"Leon, Mikomi, Merlin, Aerith and Yuffie"

"They're all on the outside worried about you, Tron" Hikari said.

Tron looked around the Pit cell as if sensing the others outside.

"I must have a lot of User friends" he said.

Everyone nodded at that.

"That program outta be done by now, don'tcha think?" Goofy asked.

"To the tower!" Donald declared.

Everyone quickly left the pit cell and headed towards the tower.

"I hope Ni-san was able to get the disk" Hikari said.

/

Leon ran frantically towards Ansem's study. With each second that he wasted running, the worse the MCP was making it for his sister and her friends. He was their only hope as long as he had the disk on him.

"Hang on, Hikari. I'm almost there" he said.

A couple of heartless would try to stop him, but he just cut them down with his mighty Gunblade.

He was a man on a mission, and nothing was going to stop him now. Not even a couple of heartless.

/

The group was almost at the I/O tower. They just had to get through the main hallway and then they would be safe.

"It's just a little bit farther!" Tron said.

As they got closer and closer to the tower, heartless suddenly appeared. The MCP must have figured that they would be heading here, so they had it guarded by the heartless.

"I really hate computers" Hikari muttered.

The heartless went all out on then as they attacked. It seemed that they were programmed to terminate them and make sure they didn't get to the tower.

As they were fighting, Hikari felt her heart burn slightly. It seemed that by not taking her potion, her heart was starting to act up. She bit her lip whenever she felt it sting, but she didn't say anything. She couldn't worry her friends while they were busy trying to defeat the MCP. Like she always thought, her friend's needs were more important than hers.

When they defeated the heartless, they quickly ran into the tower and waited for Leon to drop in the disk.

/

Leon typed away when he made it into the computer room. Time was not on his side at the moment and every minute count to defeat the MCP system.

Whenever he tried to type something in that would let him pop the disk in, the MCP would shut it down.

"**Warning. User control is terminated indefinitely" **

Leon slammed his fists against the keyboard in frustration.

"No good!" he said.

If he couldn't get the disk to them and Tron, then the MCP would take over the town's control system and keep making heartless. Not only that, Hikari and her friends would be stuck in the system forever.

Aerith went up to him as he shook his head in frustration.

"Leon, let me try" she said.

Leon gave her a skeptical look, but he knew better than to disagree with her. Reluctantly, he handed over the disk to her and watched as she just shoved it into the CD compartment.

"Bon appétit" she said.

"Don't talk with your mouth full"

Leon held the bridge of his nose at Aerith's childish move. This could have either worked or totally messed things up.

It seemed that fate was on their side, because the computer started acting up.

"**What…what are you loading?"**

The two smiled when they saw that they now had a chance to stop the system. The rest was up to Tron and the others.

/

Nothing seemed to happen when they arrived at the tower. They were hoping that the disk would have been sent through already, but it appeared that it hadn't.

"Nothing's coming" Tron said.

Hikari looked up at the ceiling. What was taking her brother so long?

"Ni-san! Come onnn!" she whined.

Just then, a beam of light shot down from the ceiling and covered the platform in the center of the room.

"This is it" Tron said.

He quickly got up on the platform and stood underneath the glowing light. Pulling out his identity disk, he held it up and let it hover up to the top of the tower, where the program's information was sucked into the disk. The disk slowly hovered back to the ground and landed into Tron's hands.

Tron examined the disk, which was giving off a strange light.

"What's it like?" Goofy asked.

Tron simply looked at it some more.

"This is very strange…" he said.

"That's Merlin's magic!" Donald said.

Tron looked at it some more and suddenly became surprised.

"There's a power booster for me!" he cried.

"And flight routines for the solar sailer!"

He placed the disk on his back. He could already feel the disk's energy going through his body.

Sora rubbed his chin at the information.

"Meaning…we're set?" he asked.

Tron got off the platform.

"Well, it's like you Users say…we won't know until we give it a try!"

Everyone smiled at that. it was kind of humorous how a program was picking up their habits.

"We'll need a sailer to reach the MCP, so let's get to the simulation hanger" Tron said.

Luckily, the simulation hanger was close by to the tower, so they didn't have to worry about running into heartless.

They secretly went onto one of the sailers and started it up. The contraption hummed to life and slowly started to fly out of the hanger. The group was amazed at the sight of the sailer. It almost looked like a giant skateboard with a few wings on the side. The area was to wide and open that they would run from one end of the sailer to the next to see the few.

Tron looked up from controlling the sailer and sighed when he saw his friends goofing off.

"You've got to keep a lookout" he said.

"The MCP isn't going to let us waltz right in"

Hikari giggled.

"If they did, then that would make things easy for us" she said.

Sora laughed too, but it turned into a yelp when heartless suddenly jumped on the sailer. The sailer swayed slightly by the weight of the heartless. If anymore of them came on, the sailer would lose connection to the current and cause them to crash to the very steep ground.

Hikari cast a barrier over the control panel so they wouldn't hit in on accident and helped the others defeat the heartless. Thanks to the program, Tron learned a few moves that helped him defeat the heartless more quickly. He would perform this move that would de-rezz the heartless and terminate them for good so they wouldn't be re-programmed again.

Sora took on the larger heartless since they were adding the most weight to the sailer while everyone else took on the smaller heartless. The smaller ones tended to appear more than the larger ones, so they caused the sailer to sway a bit. Hikari and Donald teamed up to cast a few thunder spells so they would short circuit. Hikari kicked a few off the sailer when they were fried and watched as they smashed to tiny bits on the ground.

They finally manage to get rid of the heartless and stabilize the sailer so they could finish up the rest of the ride to the MCP.

When they got there, the stood before a very gloomy scenery. Everything seemed so dark and evil, that it gave off a very bad vibe. This had to be where the MCP was at. It fit it since it was an evil program that wanted to harm to User world.

"The MCP is straight ahead" Tron said.

"Time to settle things for good" Sora said.

Everyone nodded at that.

Hikari had a hard time breathing for a moment. It seemed that fighting those heartless wasn't such a good idea. Her heart felt like it was on fire at the moment and the burning wouldn't stop. She really wanted to use her potion, but she wanted to save it for when they had to fight the Organization. She didn't have a lot of it left, so she had to be smart and save it for when she really needed it.

"_I can't use it now when my chest it hurting suddenly" _she thought.

"_What will happen when I fight the Organization and I don't have any left? Then I'll be in some serious trouble. The best option is to just deal with the pain and hope that it dies off"_

She cast a minor cure spell on herself and was glad to feel the pain going away slightly. If she kept this up, then she wouldn't have any problems.

They headed towards the tower where the MCP was at. It was time to finish this battle once and for all.

/

The MCP gave off a menacing glow as it hovered above them. Even though he looked huge and intimidating, they were afraid. It was just a program made of 1's and 0's. As long as they had the Eradicator on them, they didn't need to worry.

However they did have to worry about interference. The MCP wasn't the only one waiting for them. Off to the side, Sark stood by, giving them a dark look.

"Who is that again?…" Sora asked.

"Sark" Tron said with venom in his voice.

"The MCP's number two"

Sark glared at them.

"Tenacious little bugs!" he spat.

"Your time is up. Prepare for de-resolution! "

He summoned up heartless for backup and held out his identity disk.

"For all that talk, it seems he can't fight his own battles" Hikari said.

"This won't take long" Sora agreed.

The heartless were defeated right way when they attacked. They were the minor ones, so they were the first to go. Sark really didn't fight them. He simply would throw his identity disk at them and portal himself at a different location so they wouldn't attack him head on. For all the tough talk he put up, he really was a coward.

"You coward!" Sora called out.

"Fight like a second in command should!"

Sark just glared at them and continued his attacks.

Tron managed to get the upper hand of the battle and tripped Sark on his feet and kicked him to the ground.

Sark held his side as he kneeled on the ground.

"You're very persistent, Tron" he said as he got up.

"I'm also better than you" Tron said proudly.

Sark gave him a weak glare.

"We…would have made a great team…" he said.

Tron's identity disk glowed brightly in his hand. The program chucked it as hard as he could and watched as the disk decked Sark in the head. The evil program's head went back with a slight snap and fell to the ground lifelessly.

Hikari shuddered at the sight, but reminded herself that it had to be done. In order to reach good things, you had to dirty your hands a little.

Tron looked at where the MCP was hovering.

"Now for the MCP!" he said.

Everyone looked at the program that was causing chaos to the outside world.

"This thing is the MCP?" Sora asked.

"That's it" Tron said.

"Ugly, isn't it?"

"**Tron" **the MCP said.

"**Don't you understand? We don't need Users. We've advanced- they're superfluous. Be a part of me, and together the world will be ours to control!"**

Tron growled in frustration.

"MCP. You still don't get it, do you?" he said.

The MCP stopped sipping around and looked at them.

"**Sark" **he called out.

"**All my functions are now yours!" **

The MCP transferred all of his functions over to Sark and watched as he came back to life. The second in command grew with the power that was transferred over to him. He had never felt so alive before. With this power, he could easily defeat Tron.

"Can't even fight on his own" Hikari said.

"He needs to get help from others"

Sark glared at them and tried stomping on them with his oversized foot.

"Insolent bugs!" he said.

Hikari dived out of the way when Sark went to step on her and glared at him.

"What are you going to gain with that?" she asked him.

"You may be huge, but you're slower than a snail"

She ran up to one of his legs and gave him a Charlie horse with her keyblade.

Sark fell to the ground, gripping his leg in pain. That was a bad move on his part because that gave Hikari the opportunity to hit him in the head and knock him out.

She would have been cheering at this point, but the pain in her chest returned and made her knees buckle a little.

Sora saw this and ran up to her.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari gave him a weak smile and nodded.

"I'm fine. Don't worry" she said.

"Let's get rid of the MCP"

Sora didn't press further into the matter and agreed.

They ran up to where the MCP's base was. Tron pulled out his identity disk and held it out in front of the program. Sora and Hikari charged up their magic through their keyblade and aimed them at the disk. A beam of light shot out from the disk and hit the base of the MCP.

Slowly, but surely, the program was being deleted. The MCP would try to put up a barrier to stop them, but they would just smash it down and continued the deleting process.

When they finally finished placing the program inside of the MCP, they were rewarded to see the evil program being de-rezzed for good. Sark shared the same fate since he contained the MCP's functions. The programs that were tormenting everyone inside and outside of the computer were finally gone.

Hikari felt the dark substance in her mouth. It seemed that her heart was in worse shape than she thought and was causing her to cough this nasty stuff up again.

Not wanting to ruin the moment amongst her friends, she forced herself to swallow the nasty stuff down. She almost threw up from the taste of it, but quickly downed a potion to get rid of the taste. She resisted a shudder at the horrible combination. It was mixing milk with soda almost.

Tron pumped his fist when he saw they succeeded.

"We did it!" he cheered.

Everyone laughed at the scene.

"I see Tron has a silly side, too" Sora said.

Tron just smiled at them.

"I learned it from you" he said.

"Of course, I do have my silly limits"

The group grinned darkly at that.

"Ok, then we'll tweak your program when we get back to the User world" Hikari.

Tron shook his head frantically at that.

"Maybe we better not try that" he said.

Sora looked at Donald and Goofy.

"How 'bout it guys?" he asked.

"Singing Tron? Dancin' Tron! Sound good?"

"Yeah!" Donald cheered on.

Tron laughed at that.

"Okay, okay, fine" he said.

"But before I crash-Sora, Hikari, Donald, Goofy…and to all the Users out there…thank you…you really helped me. You made me so much stronger. You taught me what friendship is truly all about. And, I'll never forget it. As soon as I met you, I knew we were going to defeat the MCP and free the system"

He went up to them and held his hand out.

Sora accepted it, but was surprised when Tron pulled him into a hug. He stood there, completely surprised and confused.

"Uh…" he said.

Tron let him go and looked at him.

"Isn't this what Users do when they're sorry to say good-bye?" he asked.

Sora shrugged.

"Uhhh…it's a first for me" he said.

Goofy grinned.

"Gawrsh, Tron, it's like a promise that we'll see each other again real soon" he said.

Tron smiled at that.

"Okay. Well then…"

He went up to each other them and gave them a hug. Hikari hugged him tightly when it was her turn.

"Thanks for everything , Tron" she said.

"And take care"

She let him go and watched as he stepped back.

"I promise" he said.

Everyone smiled as well.

Tron slowly stepped away from them.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked.

Tron just gave them a weak smile, then ran towards the core that the MCP once was. Everyone gasped in horror and ran for the edge, trying to see where their program friend went.

"Tron!" Hikari called out.

They desperately searched for their friend, but they couldn't find him. The system started acting up again, and caused the group to head for the terminal. They didn't want to leave, but they knew they couldn't stay any longer.

Their hearts grew heavy when they realized that they probably just lost a friend.

/

Aerith watched over the monitor to see how things were going when Yuffie ran in. The ninja seemed to have a big smile on her face when she skidded to a halt.

"Things are settling down in town!" she said.

"The only heartless left anywhere are the local variety. And it looks like there are few than before"

Aerith smiled at that. This was good news.

"Now if we could just get those four back in one piece…" she said.

Just then, the monitor hummed and brought the group back into the real world. They each wore a sad look upon their faces as they thought about Tron.

"Welcome back!" Yuffie cheered.

Everyone gave her a weak nod.

"How's the town?" Hikari asked.

"A-okay!" Yuffie chirped.

"Not a single trace of the MCP, either" Aerith added.

"Everything's back to normal. We made it"

Well, at least that was good. It seemed all their work paid off.

Yuffie went up to them and gave them a look.

"Hey, why the long face?" she asked.

"What happened?"

"Tron just disappeared" Donald said sadly.

"And he promised we'd see him again…" Sora said.

Just then, the computer started beeping, causing the group to panic.

"What's happening?" Aerith asked.

Just then, they heard a familiar voice.

"**Greetings, friends. System is up, and ready for User input"**

The group gasped at that.

"Tron!" they cried.

It looked like he was ok.

"**Stay in touch" **he said.

Donald ran up to the computer and placed his hands on the keyboard.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" he cheered.

Tron could be heard laughing through the computer.

"**Hey, stop that! It tickles!" **he said.

"Tron is ticklish?" Goofy asked.

Sora had a creepy look on his face as he got an idea. He ran up to the computer and just started punching at random keys, causing Tron to laugh.

"How 'bout this!" he said.

"**Please stop that" **Tron laughed.

Everyone laughed in merriment as they fooled around with their friend. It was good to know that everything was alright here on this world and that the MCP wouldn't be messing with the system anymore.

"I think Tron's been hanging around those guys too much" Yuffie said to Aerith.

"**W-wait , wait just a moment" **Tron said through his laughter.

"**I want to show you something I dug up from the system archives. You can see the town back when it was first built"**

The screen went white as memories of the old times flashed through everyone's head.

Cloud looked up at the sky in thought while Leon smiled slightly.

"That's right" he said.

"I remember now"

Cid and Merlin stood out in front of the headquarters and went down memory lane.

"Just like the old days…" Cid said.

Merlin sighed in thought.

"I'd be fascinated to ascertain as to when the town got such a dreadful name as Hollow Bastion" Merlin said.

The group ran out of the computer room and marveled over Tron's special gift. Hikari was amazed as memories of her home ran through her head.

"You know, this town had another name once" Aerith said.

Everyone looked at her when she said that. Aerith just wore a warm smile on her face as she looked up at the sky.

"Radiant Garden"

Hikari smiled wistfully at that. That's right. She remembered cascading waterfalls, luscious field of flowers and a world filled with light. It was like living in a dream. Everyone was happy and lived in a world filled with light.

But that all changed when Xemnas unleashed the heartless on the world and turned it into Hollow Bastion.

Hikari frowned at that. He was going to pay for ruining her world and making her family suffer.

"_Just you wait, father. You'll get what's coming to you"_

/

Off in the Market place, Mikomi looked up at the sky. Memories of when Radiant Garden was still around went through her head. Those were the good old days. Back when she and Cloud were still a family. Back when Sephiroth wasn't around.

Her face grew serious as she looked towards the direction of the Great Maw.

Gripping the samurai sword at her side. She started walking towards that direction.

Now that the town was back in order, she could finally set out with her plans.

"Now is time to finish things once and for all"

/

**A/N: Uh-oh. What is Mikomi up to? Could she be planning to fight someone? Sorry if this chapter suck, but I'll make it up to you with the next one. Get ready for some epic fighting because we're going to face one of the greatest villains in the history of Final Fantasy!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	40. OneWinged Angel

Chapter 40: One-Winged Angel

**A/N: It's the moment that all you Final Fantasy fans have been waiting for! We get to fight Sephiroth. I have to say, when I fought him, he was a bitch to beat. I had to level up to the highest level the game has to offer and get the final form in order to beat him. But it was worth it in the end. **

**I've also realized that it's been nearly over a year since I started the 'Trail of Memories' series. It's amazing how time flies by.**

**I also have another poll starting! This one is about which is your favorite OC so far. The candidates are Hikari, Ankoku, Taiyouko and Tsukiko. Whoever gets the most votes get a couple new drawings up in Deviantart. **

**Anyway, let's get on with the awesome story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"So this place was actually called Radiant Garden?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded as they slowly headed back to Merlin's house. Thanks to the MCP being destroyed and Tron fixing up the system, there weren't as many heartless as there usually was.

"Yeah" she said.

"Before it fell into darkness, my home was called Radiant Garden. It was so beautiful looking. There were cascading water fountains that sparkled in the sunlight. Flowers of various colors could been seen from miles on end. And of course everyone was so happy and full of life"

Her smile faltered a little.

"But that all changed when my dad created the heartless and brought ruin to this world, along with many others"

She sighed sadly.

"It makes me feel like this is all my fault that it happened. Even if I didn't do anything, I'm still connected to it. How could my dad do this to everyone?"

Sora gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Hey, don't blame yourself" he said.

"I'm sure you had no idea that he planned all of this to happen. So what if your dad made this mess? At least you're trying to fix it. That has to count for something"

"That's right!" Goofy said.

"After all, you're a keyblade master. It's your nature to want to help everyone"

Hikari gave her friends a weak smile. At least they didn't judge her for being related to the mad man that brought so much ruin to so many lives.

"Thanks, guys" she said.

"I'm glad that I have such great friends like you"

Donald smiled, but it faltered when he saw someone running towards the Great Maw.

"Huh?"

Everyone looked to where he was staring at and saw that it was Mikomi who was running towards the Maw. She looked really serious and gripped as samurai sword tightly within her hand.

"Where is Mikomi going?" Sora asked.

Hikari shook her head, clearly showing that she had no idea.

"I don't know, but it's dangerous for her to be out there" she said.

"Even though Tron fixed the system, there are still heartless out and about. I don't know if she could handle them on her own"

"Maybe we should go after her then" Goofy suggested.

They quickly ran towards the maw, hoping that they would stop Mikomi before it was too late.

/

Mikomi scanned the area to see if there any heartless before she continued running. If she didn't make it soon, then her chances of fulfilling her plans would be ruined.

"I have to do this for Ni-san" she said.

"Otherwise we'll never be a family again"

He told her to stay out of his business when it came to this situation, but how could she when his very life was in danger? He had always sacrificed so much, just so she could be safe and happy, now it was her turn.

"Don't worry. Everything will be back to the way that it was" she muttered to herself, hoping that if saying it, it would come true.

She didn't know what she would accomplish with this, but she had to try. At least for the sake of her brother.

"Mikomi?"

The ninja jumped at her name and whipped around to see Hikari and her friends. All of them looked confused as they watched her.

Mikomi gulped nervously when she realized that they must have followed her. That wasn't good. Nobody was suppose to know about her plans.

She smiled nervously and waved at them.

"H-hey, guys" she said.

"What's up?"

"What are you doing out here?" Hikari asked.

"Don't you know that it's dangerous?"

Mikomi laughed nervously and rubbed her head.

"Y-yeah. But I…just wanted to check to see if there were any heartless around here. You can never be too sure"

Sora gave her a doubtful look.

"You could have told us" he said.

"It's our job to get rid of them"

Donald crossed his arms and gave her a quizzical look.

"Something tells me that you're not telling the truth" he said.

Mikomi started sweating bullets when she saw how serious they were.

"What would give you that assumption?" she asked nervously.

Hikari looked at her seriously.

"Because whenever you're lying, you tend to scratch the back of your head like that" she said, indicating to the gesture.

Mikomi swore under her breath, remembering that Hikari was regaining her memories.

Goofy gave her a concerned look.

"So, why are you really out here?" he asked.

"You know we won't leave until you tell us"

Mikomi bit her lip slightly, then looked away. There was no way that she was getting out of this one.

"I'm going to fight Sephiroth" she said quietly.

Everyone looked shocked and scared at the same time. Fight Sephiroth? The man who controlled the darkness in Cloud's heart? That crazy warrior with the really long sword?

"Are you crazy?" Hikari exclaimed.

"You could get killed!"

"Why don't you just leave this to Cloud?" Sora said.

"He was looking for him after all"

Mikomi gave them a cold glare.

"Because he'll kill my brother the first moment he sees him!" she snapped.

Everyone jumped at the harshness of her tone, but never said anything.

Mikomi balled her hands into fists as she looked at that ground.

"I can't let my brother fight Sephiroth. I just can't" she said.

"He's the darkness that resides in his heart. He knows all of his weaknesses. If my brother were to fight him, it would just destroy him. Sephiroth is like a virus. It doesn't matter how many times my brother fights him, he just gets stronger and spreads the darkness in his heart"

Tears fell from her eyes and landed on the ground.

"I just can't lose my Ni-san" she choked.

"He's the only family I have. He raised me when no one else would and treasured me so much. Even though it was difficult to raise a kid when he was just a teenager, he still kept me by his side"

She rubbed the tears from her eyes and sniffled.

"He's more than just my older brother. He's my parent, my light, but most of all…my best friend" she sobbed.

"That's why I just can't let him fight Sephiroth. If I do, then that means I'll lose my light. He's suffered so much because of him. I just can't stand by and let my only brother suffer. He's done so much for me, so now it's my turn"

Everyone was stunned as they heard her words. They never realized the Cloud wasn't the only one who was suffering because of Sephiroth. Mikomi was just as effected by this as well…maybe even worse. Her light was being threatened, and she was afraid that she was going to lose it. It made sense why she was crazy enough to risk her life just so she could save her brother.

It made perfect sense to Hikari. She just couldn't help but think about Leon. If she was in a similar situation as Mikomi was with Cloud, she would do the same thing as well. She would want to protect her brother no matter what, even if it was dangerous. Leon was more than just her older brother. He was her parent, her guardian and most of all, her best friend. She would always feel safe, knowing that her Ni-san was close by.

She gave Mikomi a sympathetic look before holding her hands.

"I understand, Mikomi" she said.

"I understand completely. You don't want anything to happen to your brother, so that's why you're taking actions into your own hands"

She smiled.

"And that's why I'm going to help you"

Everyone looked shocked at her statement.

"You're what?" Sora cried.

"Are you nuts?" Donald asked.

Hikari gave her friends a stern look.

"I think I can handle a guy with a long sword" she said.

"We've been fighting heartless and nobodies, so this should be easy"

Mikomi shook her head frantically.

"You can't!" she insisted.

"You don't know how he fights. He'll kill you within an instant!"

Hikari gave her friend a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine" she said.

"You've obviously fought with him, so you should know how he fights. With you at my side, I'm sure we'll be able to beat him"

Mikomi subconsciously touched her arm that was covered by the long sleeve. Scars from her last battle with Sephiroth were etched into her flesh, reminding her how weak and careless she was.

She shook her hear slightly. She was smarter and stronger than last time. This time, she would beat Sephiroth for good and save her brother.

She gave Hikari a serious look.

"You're not going to take 'no' for an answer, are you?" she asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I'm not going to let you go through with this by yourself" she said.

Mikomi sighed and slowly nodded.

"Just do as I say, and you won't get killed" she said.

Hikari nodded.

"Then let's go"

The two girls started to walk, but were stopped by their male friends.

"Wait!" Sora cried.

"You can't expect us to let you do this alone, do you?"

"We're coming too!" Donald insisted.

Mikomi smiled slightly at the thought of having more backup to defeat Sephiroth. She didn't want to take her chances with this guy.

"Then let's hurry up" she said.

"Sephiroth isn't going to be just standing around forever"

They quickly ran through the Great Maw in search of the one-winged angel.

/

"So, is there anything we need to know about Sephiroth before we fight him?" Sora asked.

Mikomi nodded.

"Yeah. Don't get hit" she said.

"He likes to use that long sword of his; so long range attacks are his specialty. Try to stay as far away from his swings and you'll be ok. Otherwise, you'll be chopped up into little bits"

Everyone soaked the information in before they headed towards the Dark Depths.

Hikari resisted the urge to whimper. This was the place where the confronted Xemnas and she learned that he was her father. This place was full of bad memories. She bit her lip, trying to suppress those memories. Now wasn't the time to be reflecting her own problems. She promised Mikomi that she would help her and that she would.

The spotted the One-Winged Angel looking out towards Villain's Vale. Mikomi ground her teeth in frustration and had to restrain herself from charging at him.

They slowly approached him so they wouldn't be noticed. Sephiroth seemed to have sensed them anyway, since he spoke to them.

"What is Cloud doing?" he asked. He never turned around to face them.

Mikomi growled and held her sword out.

"Like I would tell you" she spat.

Sephiroth smirked darkly and turned around.

"Oh? And if it isn't his little sister" he cooed.

"I'm actually surprised that you have the nerve to face me again. I would think after what I did to you last time, you would have your tail between your legs"

Mikomi glared daggers at her brother's rival. She wasn't going to let his words affect him.

"And why would I do that?" she asked.

"After our last battle, it just motivated me to defeat you even more. I was careless last time, but I won't be making that same mistake again!"

Sephiroth just gave her a cruel smirk.

"Oh really?"

He pointed his sword at her and nearly had the tip of it graze her throat. Everyone jumped back, but Mikomi still kept her ground.

"Then it seems I didn't teach you a lesson last time. I'll have to fix that"

Everyone quickly got over their shock and pulled out their weapons.

"We won't let you do that!" Hikari declared.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"And you brought friends this time" he stated.

"And just who might you four be?"

Goofy gulped.

"I'm not sure we should tell you that" he said.

Sephiroth just examined Sora and Hikari's keyblades.

"Well…that's a very interesting sword you're both carrying" he said.

"It's the keyblades!" Donald corrected.

Sephiroth grinned darkly.

"I see…so that's a keyblade" he stated.

"And I suppose that you must be the chosen wielders"

"So what if we are?" Sora scoffed.

Sephiroth raised his sword up.

"I wonder if it won't change its mind-once I defeat you" he said.

He jumped up in the air, and cast Octislash at them. The blades came at them so fast that the group didn't have time to jump out of the way.

Luckily, Mikomi was in front of them and deflected all of the hits before glaring at Sephiroth.

"Your fight is with me!" she declared.

Sephiroth just laughed darkly.

"Of course" he said.

"How could I pass up the opportunity to snuff out Cloud's light?"

Mikomi jumped up and clashed blades with him.

"That's not going to happen"

The two clashed swords with each other and had sparks flying. Mikomi flipped through the air and landed to the ground.

Sora and Hikari quickly jumped in and took their turn at the One-Winged Angel. Sora fought with his keyblade while Hikari cast very powerful spells. She was still trying to recover from her last pain attack, so she didn't want to risk it. Sora summoned up his second keyblade and did a melee of attacks on Sephiroth. He didn't want the dark angel to have the chance to attack, so he struck him with every chance he got.

When Sephiroth was about to cast a very dark spell at them, Hikari quickly created a shield of light and covered them all before they could get hit. She could just sense the darkness emanating from the spell and couldn't help but shiver. She only thought that the heartless and nobodies were capable of harboring such darkness, but Sephiroth took it to a whole different level.

Donald and Goofy pretty much acted up as back up with healing everyone and blocking attacks when they were done.

"He's so strong!" Donald said.

"Of course he is" Mikomi said.

"He used to be a great warrior before he gave himself up to the darkness"

She stood up and gripped her sword tightly.

"The only way to beat him is with the power of light"

Lightning started covering her sword.

"Since he's threatening to destroy my light, I'm going to use it against him"

She charged at him at full speed. Hikari went to go after her, but Sora stopped her.

"This is her fight" he said.

"The only thing that we can do now is to support her and help her when she really needs it"

Hikari looked between Sora and Mikomi and couldn't help but bite her lip. She didn't know what to do. She knew that there was no way that she could fight Sephiroth, but that didn't mean that Mikomi should. If this kept up, she could get killed.

Sephiroth just taunted Mikomi as he dodged one of her attacks, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Fighting me is meaningless" he said.

"What good is it to fight me when you don't even have half the strength that your brother does?"

Mikomi slowly got up to her feet.

"Because I'm more stronger than he is" she stated.

"True, I'm not nearly as physically strong as he is, but I make up for that by being mentally strong. You like to pick at everyone's brains and make them think that they're weak and pathetic. You try to convince them that they should give in to the darkness, just so you could see them in despair. You try to control the darkness in their hearts. That may work on some, but it won't work on me!"

Light began to cover her body as she looked at him with determination.

"While I do have darkness in my heart, I also have light" she said.

"My light helps me become stronger and motivates me to not give up! As long as I believe in my light, nothing will harm me. Not even you"

She aimed her sword at the fallen Angel.

"And when someone threatens your light, you become even stronger. You won't let anyone try to snuff out the thing that keeps you alive each day" she said.

"And since you're trying to destroy my light, I'm going to destroy you!"

Sephiroth just shook his head.

"How you are Cloud's sister amazes me" he said.

He held his sword up and got into a fighting stance.

"Very well. Since you're just as stubborn as he is, I might as well take my time in destroying your light. Then you'll see how pointless it was to fight me"

Mikomi got into a fighting stance as well.

"Don't get ahead of yourself" she said.

The two stared at each other for a second before they clashed blades.

Everyone was amazed by how Mikomi was able to follow Sephiroth's moves and copy them precisely. She would add some of her own moves as well like sending a few flying kicks and punches. Overall, it amazed them how strong she really was.

"She fights just like Cloud" Hikari stated.

"Well, they are siblings" Sora stated.

"If you think about it, you fight the same way as Leon does"

Hikari blushed a little, knowing that her older brother complex got the best of her sometimes.

Mikomi ducked when Sephiroth went to jab her in the head.

"Once I beat you, everything will go back to the way that it was!"

Sephiroth just scoffed.

"I doubt that brother of yours will ever be the same" he said.

"Even if you beat me, I'll still reside in his heart"

Mikomi glared at him.

"Shut up!"

She kicked him into the air and jumped right after him. She swung her sword around and let the electricity charge up.

"Now let me show you the power of light" she said.

She zipped past him and performed Omnislash on him. she hacked at him from various directions before she hovered above him and kicked him down to the ground.

Mikomi landed gracefully to her feet and looked at Sephiroth when he stood up.

"How'd you like that?"

Sephiroth merely brushed his sleeve off.

"I'll admit you've gotten stronger" he said.

"But only Cloud can defeat me. Like it said before, it was pointless to even start a fight with me"

Mikomi growled in annoyance. Even after pulling off her best move, he still didn't have a scratch on him. There was no way she was going to let her brother fight him when she couldn't even graze him.

"I'll show you who's pointless!"

She charged at him and started fighting him again.

Hikari clasped her hands tightly together when she saw that Mikomi was starting to lose and was getting far more cuts than Sephiroth was.

"Hikari" Sora said quietly to her.

He gave her a serious look.

"Get Cloud"

Hikari looked surprised.

They weren't suppose to tell Cloud that they were fighting Sephiroth. This was the whole reason why Mikomi wanted to fight; so he wouldn't have to.

"B-but Mikomi said…"

"I know what she said" Sora said.

"But it's obvious now that she can't defeat him, even with our help. The only one who can stop this is Cloud. I know Mikomi doesn't want him involved, but if we don't do something, she'll get killed"

Hikari looked back at Mikomi to see Sephiroth stabbing her in the arm. Sora was right; this couldn't go on any longer.

"Try to help her while I get him" she said.

Sora nodded.

"Hurry"

Hikari quickly ran back to the town while Sora and the others quickly ran into the fight to save their friend.

/

Hikari's' lungs were burning as she ran. As she had stated before, she wasn't the best runner. She was amazed that she got as far as to the bailey without passing out.

"I have to find Cloud soon" she told herself.

"He'll be able to stop this"

She was heading towards the market place, her heart started to burn.

Skidding to a stop, Hikari braced herself as she threw up the black substance on the ground. It seemed that fighting Sephiroth affected her, even though she really didn't fight him.

She placed her head against the cold stone wall. Why was this still happening? She thought that by now her heart would be better, especially since she took that special potion. But it seemed that by not taking it, her heart was just getting worse.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked herself.

She forced herself to stand up properly and stepped away from the wall.

She had so many questions running through her head with fewer answers to them.

Forcing herself to move forward, she ran towards the market to where she was sure Cloud would be.

Sure enough, she saw the blonde leaning against a wall, looking moody as usual.

"Cloud!"

The blond looked up with the usual sullen expression on his face when Hikari came skidding towards him.

"What is it?" he asked.

Hikari caught her breath before she grabbed onto Cloud's arm and started pulling him.

"You...have…to come…with me" she said between gasps.

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"And why would I have to do that?"

Hikari just kept pulling him.

"B-because…M-Mikomi…is fighting Sephiroth"

The color in Cloud's face drained completely when he heard that. His sister was fighting his enemy? This wasn't good.

His face went from shock, to raw anger as he stormed past Hikari and headed towards the Great Maw.

"I told her to stay out of this" he growled.

Hikari quickly caught up with him and stopped him this time. True, she wanted Cloud to come with her, but not when he was angry with Mikomi.

"Don't be mad at her" she insisted.

"She just wanted to help you"

Cloud glared at her, but she knew it wasn't directed towards her.

"I've told her thousands of times that she needed to stay out of this" he said.

"This is my fight and I don't want her involved with this"

Hikari gave him a glare of her own and placed her hands on her hips. She almost forgot how stubborn Cloud could be.

"Well maybe this is her fight too. Did that ever occur to you?" she asked.

"I understand why you don't want Mikomi to fight Sephiroth"

Cloud gave her an emotionless stare and shook his head.

"No. You don't" he said.

"None of you do"

Hikari sighed.

"Yes I do" she insisted.

"You don't want anything to happen to your little sister and that-"

"That's not it!" Cloud snapped.

Hikari jumped a little, but stood her ground.

Cloud had such an anguished look to his eyes that it almost made him seem out of character.

"None of you understand why I don't want her involved. Why I _can't _have her involved"

Hikari tilted her head and looked at him sadly. She wasn't used to seeing Cloud so sad, but she knew it wasn't right.

She slowly held her hand out to him.

"Then why don't you show me so I can understand"

Cloud looked at her hand for a second, then realized that he wanted to show her what happened in the past.

Slowly, he gripped her hand and let his memories flash through her head.

/

_Cloud actually looked scared for once as he ran through the Great Maw. Yuffie had just told him what Mikomi was up to and he was actually scared for her life._

"_What in the world is she thinking?" he asked himself._

_He never realized that his personal problems would get his sister involved. He didn't want to tell her that Sephiroth returned in case he scared her, but instead, she found out and decided to take matters into her own hands. This were one of the traits that he wished that she didn't pick up from him._

_As he heard swords clashing in the distance, he forced himself to run faster. He just couldn't let Sephiroth kill his sister, he just couldn't. Because even though they weren't related by blood, they were all they had as a family._

_He skidded to a stop when he saw Mikomi clashing swords with Sephiroth. Both looked set on killing each other and were going all out with their skills._

"_When will you realize that fighting me is meaningless?" Sephiroth asked._

_Mikomi just glared at him and shoved him away._

"_Shut up!" she cried._

"_Once I beat you, things will go back to the way there were!"_

_Sephiroth just smirked darkly._

"_You're about to see how different dreams and reality are" he said._

_Mikomi gripped her sword tightly and charged at him._

"_We'll see about that!"_

_Cloud watched in horror as Mikomi jumped up in the air and started to perform one of his moves. She was still learning how to perform some of his more simpler moves so there was no way that she would be able to pull this off._

_Sephiroth must have known this too because he smirked darkly and jumped up into the air. He stabbed his sword right into her left arm and watched with satisfaction as she cried out in pain. _

"_Fool"_

_He continued to stab her all over her body and finished it off with Octislash. Mikomi was able to block it with her left arm, but ended up having it cut up really badly._

"_Mikomi!" Cloud screamed._

_Mikomi crashed to the ground in a heap and never moved. Cloud couldn't help but stare in horror at the sight of the blood._

_Sephiroth hovered over Mikomi's body with his sword drawn._

"_Now I'll shatter your dreams"_

_He dove down to land the finishing blow that would end Mikomi's life. _

_Cloud quickly ran and practically threw his body over his sisters._

"_No!" he cried._

_Sephiroth stopped when he saw his rival practically using his body as a shield. He grinned darkly when he saw the broken and desperate look in his eyes as he covered his sister._

"_Oh, so you came" he said._

_Cloud pulled Mikomi into his arms and held her close to his chest._

"_Isn't it sad to see how weak you really are?" Sephiroth asked._

"_You couldn't even protect your sister from me. This is just proof that your heart is really weak"_

_He held his sword up._

"_Now she has to pay"_

_Cloud held his sister tightly to his chest._

"_No!" he pleaded._

"_Keep her out of this"_

_Sephiroth looked at him for a moment, then lowered his sword._

"_Very well" he said._

"_I'll let her live. But this is proof of how weak you really are to me"_

_Cloud didn't look at him as he said that. He was more concerned about his sister's health._

_Sephiroth just 'hmphed' and disappeared._

_Mikomi weakly opened her eyes and tried to blink the blood out of the way._

"_Ni-san" she said weakly._

_Her left arm trembled as she reached out to touch his face. She gave him a weak smile._

"_I got careless" she said._

"_I'm sorry"_

_Cloud felt tears prickle his eyes as he saw his sister close her eyes. He held her close to his chest and rocked her back and forth._

"_What have I done?" he kept repeating to himself._

/

Hikari had a hand covering her mouth when the memory faded away. Now she understood why Cloud didn't want her to fight Sephiroth and why she covered her left arm.

Cloud looked away shamefully.

"She was bed ridden for over 6 months" he said.

"Merlin was able to heal her, but her left arm was left with scars. She can't even move it without being in excruciating pain"

He covered his face with his hand.

"She kept blaming herself saying that it was her fault, but I knew it was mine" he said.

"If I had been a little stronger. If I had control over the darkness in my heart, then she wouldn't have gotten hurt. This is why I can't let her fight. I don't want to lose my sister"

Hikari gave him a sympathetic look. She never realized how torn up Cloud was about this whole Sephiroth thing.

It made her respect him for being an older brother. Even if he acted cold and distant towards Mikomi, it was only because he wanted to protect her.

But that didn't mean he had to push her away from his problems. Families helped each other out.

"I understand why you don't want her involved" she said.

"But you can't push her away like that. She wants to help you, so let her. I'm sure if the roles were reversed, you would want to help her fight Sephiroth"

She gave his arm a squeeze.

"You say that there's darkness in your heart, but to Mikomi, you're her light. You mean everything to her and she doesn't want you to get hurt"

Cloud looked at the ground, not wanting her to see the torn look in his eyes. It was bad enough that she saw it once.

Hikari gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you just going to stand here and let that creep hurt your sister?" she asked.

"Or are you going to take matters into your own hands?"

Cloud simply looked at the ground in thought for a moment. Could he really fight Sephiroth with his weak heart? Did he have what it took?

Images of Mikomi bleeding in his arms went through his head. He didn't want to experience that again.

He looked at Hikari with determination.

"He's going to pay" he said.

Hikari smiled.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" she cheered.

"Let's get him!"

They quickly left the market and headed towards the Great Maw, where Mikomi was bound to be.

/

"They should be up ahead" Hikari said as they ran.

Cloud gripped his buster sword tightly within his hand.

"Sephiroth is going to wish that he never messed with me when I'm done with him" Cloud said.

Hikari nodded.

"And don't be mad at Mikomi" she pointed out.

"She was holding up well before. She fights a lot like you"

Cloud smirked a little.

"She always did pick up after me" he admitted.

They made it to where Mikomi was still fighting Sephiroth. The One-Winged Angel looked like he didn't get a single scratch on him while Mikomi was covered with cuts.

Sora joined into the fight and blocked an attack before it could hit Mikomi.

Mikomi finally got fed up with all of the fighting and went to jump Sephiroth.

"How childish"

Sephiroth's hand shot up and grabbed Mikomi by the throat. The ninja started choking as she was dangled up in the air.

Sephiroth gave her an emotionless stare.

"Perhaps I should have killed you last time" he said.

"Then I wouldn't have gotten such a headache"

Mikomi lashed out and tried to kick at him, but failed.

Sora, Donald and Goofy went to save her, but Sephiroth kept them away by pointing his sword at them.

"I wonder what you're brother will say when he finds you chopped up into little bits?"

That did it for Cloud. He had his sword out and ran towards them.

"Put her down!" he ordered.

Sephiroth looked at him and gave him a cruel smirk.

"Well now"

He tossed Mikomi aside, not caring that Sora and Goofy caught her.

Sephiroth slowly approached his rival; sword drawn.

"Cloud. You'll never let go of the darkness" he said.

Cloud glared at him and held his sword out.

"Shut up" he said.

Mikomi leaned against Sora and gave her brother a weak smile.

"Ni-san" she said.

"I'm sorry"

Cloud shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry" he said.

"I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. Once this is over, things will go back to the way they were. I promise"

Mikomi smiled hopefully at that.

Sephiroth scoffed.

"You'll never let go of your past" he said.

Cloud charged at him.

"Shut up!"

Everyone watched as the two warriors fought with each other.

"Cloud! Get him!" Sora cried.

Cloud simply jumped into the air and clashed swords with Sephiroth before landing back to the ground and smashing his sword against the long samurai blade.

"Absurd" Sephiroth said.

"Defeating me is meaningless. You know that more than anyone, Cloud"

Cloud ground his teeth in frustration.

"Don't listen to him, Ni-san!" Mikomi insisted.

Sephiroth just continued on with his ranting.

"No matter how many times I fall, your darkness keeps calling me back"

"Wrong!"

Everyone was surprised to see Tifa suddenly appeared.

Cloud panicked when he saw his girlfriend.

"Tifa! Stay back!" he ordered.

"How can I?" Tifa insisted.

"I want to help"

Cloud stepped back so he wasn't close to Sephiroth.

"You can't" Sephiroth said.

"He'll never let go of the darkness"

Tifa shook her head.

"He doesn't have to" she said.

"He just needs people to surround him with light"

She looked at Mikomi to prove her point. The ninja smiled and managed to pull out her sword to back her friend up.

"The darkness will be there, Sephiroth" Tifa said.

"But in a place that you can't reach" Mikomi finished.

"Is that right?" Sephiroth asked.

"Then let's see what this light of yours can do"

Tifa and Mikomi launched into action and performed a team attack. Despite being seriously injured, Mikomi managed to pull through and help Tifa attack Sephiroth.

Cloud went to intervene, but their light became too much for him.

"No!" he pleaded.

Sephiroth took this opportunity to strike at Cloud when he was at his weakest.

"Look out!" Hikari cried.

Cloud snapped out of it and quickly jumped out of the way. He landed in front of Tifa and Mikomi so Sephiroth wouldn't harm the women he loved most.

"Cloud, you can have our light" Tifa said.

Mikomi gave her brother's arm a squeeze.

"Just as you're my light, I'll be yours" she said.

"We're in this together"

Cloud features soften as he heard that.

"The light doesn't suit you" Sephiroth stated.

Cloud shook his head slightly.

"I just…don't know" he said.

Light suddenly covered his body. Sephiroth saw this and panicked.

"Stop!"

Cloud looked at Mikomi and mouthed something to her. The ninja's eyes widen slightly, but she nodded in response.

Cloud smirked slightly and jumped into the air to chase after Sephiroth. Everyone watched as they went farther into the air until they were completely gone.

A minute went by before anyone could say anything.

"Where'd they go?" Goofy asked.

"Do you think they made it back to their own world?" Donald suggested.

Sora rubbed his chin in thought.

"They went somewhere else…" he said.

"Cloud went to fight a great battle-to defeat the darkness inside him"

Hikari smirked slightly.

"Yeah. I guess you're right" she said.

Tifa sighed sadly.

"Gone again" she stated.

"What will you do now?" Sora asked.

Tifa held the side of her face.

"Guess I'll just keep looking" she said.

"Got any leads?"

Tifa nodded.

"Don't worry…light is always easy to find"

Hikari nodded.

"That's true"

She looked at Mikomi, who sadly looked at the ground.

"You ok?"

Mikomi gave them a weak smile and nodded.

"I will be" she said.

Sora rubbed his head nervously.

"Sorry if we weren't any help" he said.

Mikomi shook her head.

"Don't be. You helped a lot" she said.

"Ni-san was able to overcome the darkness in his heart, thanks to you guys. I just hope he wins in the end"

"What did he say to you before he disappeared?" Donald asked.

Mikomi smiled slightly and gripped her winged necklace.

"He said 'I'll be back soon'" she said.

"He was always like that. Suddenly running off to take care of things"

Tifa sighed sadly.

"That was one of the things I hated about him"

Mikomi chuckled.

"Yeah. Me too" she admitted.

"But then again, I loved all this little quirks, even that one"

She looked up at the sky in thought.

"You know, he may have been cold and distant. But I thought he was the best brother that I could ever have. After I got injured from my last battle with Sephiroth, he stayed by my bed side the whole time. He never left and nursed me back to health. He could have fought Sephiroth while I was recovering, but he said I was more important to him"

A tear slid down her face as she smiled.

"Even though he gets me mad with some of the things that he does, I can't blame him. That just makes him as him. If you care about someone, you have to accept all of their traits. The good ones and the bad"

Hikari felt her heart sting as she heard that. She couldn't help but think about her own brother and how she reacted towards him from before.

"I gotta go!" she said.

She quickly ran out of the Maw and headed back towards town.

Even though she forgave Leon for not saying anything about Xemnas, she never told him that she forgave him and how much she loved him. He had to go through so much just so she could be safe and happy. It almost made him feel unappreciated.

"_I'm sorry, Ni-san!" _she thought.

"_You deserved better than this"_

She quickly made it to the market and spotted her brother walking around.

Tears pooled in her eyes as she got closer to her brother.

"Ni-san!"

Leon looked up and staggered back when Hikari launched herself at him and hugged him tightly. She buried her face into his shirt and basked into his warmth.

"Hikari?" he asked uneasily.

Hikari looked up at him with tears still in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry about how I was acting before" she said.

"You didn't deserve that and I understand why you didn't say anything. You were just trying to protect me. It doesn't matter that Xemnas is our dad. You're the one who raised me, so that makes you the only father figure I've had in my life. I'm so lucky to have a brother like you and I love you so much"

She buried her face back into his chest and just hugged him.

Leon got teary eyed as he heard this. He never blamed his sister for being mad at him, but to hear her say that about him just warmed his heart.

He hugged her back and gave her forehead a kiss.

"I love you too" he said.

"And I'm lucky to have you for a sister"

Hikari looked up and wiped her eyes.

"I'll make sure Xemnas pays for what he did to us and mom" she said.

"He's going down"

Leon's face grew serious.

"You be careful, you hear me?" he said.

"I don't want to see you get hurt"

Hikari nodded.

"I promise" she said.

"And I'll get mom back too. I promise we'll see you again"

Her face lit up as she came up with an idea.

"Hey! You can come to the islands!" she said.

"You can see where I've been living for the past couple of years since I was separated from you. You'll just love it! Think of it as a tiny vacation from this place"

Leon smirked at the idea.

"I think I'd like that" he said.

Hikari smiled at the prospect of her brother coming to the islands.

"Hikari!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy came running towards them.

"There you are! We've been looking for you" Sora said.

Hikari laughed nervously.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see Ni-san" she said.

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"I guess it's ok since we have to leave soon" Goofy said.

"Yeah! We got to take down Organization Xlll!" Donald declared.

"And get back at your dad!" Sora added.

Leon's face grew grim at the mention of Xemnas.

"If he hadn't appeared 12 years ago, then none of this would have happened" he growled.

Hikari nodded in agreement, then stopped when she let her brother's words sink in.

12 years ago?

Now that didn't make sense. If he appeared on Radiant Garden 12 years ago, then she would have been 4 at the time. It would have physically been impossible for Xemnas to be her father.

She looked up at Leon in shock and confusion as she let this all sink in.

"Ni-san…what are you saying?" she asked uneasily.

Leon looked like he just spilled something and rubbed her head.

"Listen, Hikari" he said.

"There's something that I should have told you before and-"

"Hey! We don't have time!" Sora blurted.

He grabbed Hikari's hand and started pulling her along.

"We have to defeat Organization Xlll and find Riku and Kairi!"

Hikari staggered along and looked back at Leon.

"Bye Ni-san! I love you!" she said.

Leon waved to her.

"Be safe! And come back when you've defeated the enemy!" he said.

When they were out of earshot, he looked at them sadly.

"Sorry, Hikari. But you'll know the truth soon" he said.

"This is something that you have to figure out on your own"

As the group got into the Gummi ship, many thoughts were whirling through Hikari's head.

What Leon said really threw her off. If Xemnas appeared on their world 12 years ago, then that would mean he couldn't be her father. But in all of the memories she had of him, she referred to him as 'daddy' and remembered him always with his mother.

Was there more this story than what Xemnas lead on?

As Sora steered them out of Radiant Garden and on towards their next destination, one thought rang through Hikari's head.

Was Xemnas really her father?

/

**A/N: What's this? Did I just add another twist to the story? Why yes I did! Now that we're getting closer to the end, Hikari's connection to Xemnas is starting to become more puzzling. What did Leon meant when he said that she would have to find out for herself?**

**And Poor Mikomi. She had to see her brother leave yet again. But fear not! Cloud will come back! As if he would leave his little sister alone.**

**Hope you guys like this chapter and please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	41. Getting closer to the end

Chapter 41: Getting closer to the end

**A/N: Heh heh, I'm just loving the fact that you're all flipping out about Xemnas possibly not being Hikari's father. I hate adding plot twists, but that's how I get more reviews. Don't worry, you'll find out what really is going on soon. We're almost at the end (sadly) so all the answers will be revealed.**

**I also have a poll up on my homepage to see which is your favorite OC so far. If would be kind enough to vote on a character, I would really appreciate it. (And it might convince me to update real soon!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my Oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari's head was practically throbbing as she mulled over Leon's words. What did he mean when he said that Xemnas appeared 12 years ago, and what was he going to say next?

Was Xemnas really her father? Was it even possible?

Hikari shook her head.

No. There was no way that was even possible. How could he be her father when she was 4 at the time? Now that she thought about it, she and Leon didn't even look like him. They didn't have the same facial features or anything like that.

She looked at Sora, who was driving.

"Don't you find what my brother said to be a little strange?" she asked.

Sora nodded, but didn't take his eyes off the window.

"A little" he admitted.

"But what's there to freak out about? I'm sure it was mix up"

Hikari shot up from her seat.

"It is a big deal because Xemnas may not be my dad!" she snapped.

"How could he be my father when he came to Radiant Garden when I was 4? There's just no way that he could physically be my dad"

Goofy scratched his head.

"Maybe he's your step-dad?" he suggested.

"And since you were young, you just referred to him as your dad"

That was a likely possibility, but there was one problem.

"I don't think that's it" she said.

"Now that I think about it, my mom never wore a wedding ring on her finger"

And now that she thought about it, all the memories she had of Taiyouko and Xemnas, her mother never mentioned or made any reference that she was married or had a husband.

"Maybe she just didn't want to wear a ring?" Donald said.

"I doubt that" Hikari said.

"My mom tended to be traditional with those kind of things. If she was married, she would have worn a ring"

She flopped down in her seat and buried her face in her hands.

"This is too much for me to absorb" she said.

"I spent the last half of our journey thinking that Xemnas was my dad and then I have by brother hinting that he might not actually be my dad. I don't know what to believe in anymore"

Goofy gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm sure we'll find the answers soon" he said.

"We're about to fight the Organization anyway, so maybe you'll get your answers then"

Hikari gave him a weak smile. Leave it to Goofy to lighten the mood.

Just then, Chip and Dale spoke through the intercom.

"Hey! You better check the monitor!" Chip said.

"Something weird is happening to Twilight Town. It looks like there's two of them"

"And there's this big castle hovering over it!" Dale added.

Sora flipped on the monitor and saw that Twilight Town was indeed acting weird. The two almost looked like it had another one behind it while in the background, there was the great, massive castle hovering in the air.

"What IS that?" Sora asked.

Hikari looked at it as well.

"I don't know, but I sense a vast amount of darkness coming from it" she said.

"We should check it out then" Donald said.

Sora steered the ship towards Twilight Town to see what was going on.

/

The group walked through the train station when they landed. Everything seemed to look normal so far, but they weren't going to take their chances.

Goofy looked around and realized something.

"Hey! I think we're almost there!" he said.

Everyone stopped walking and gave him a confused look. Where were they almost at?

Goofy scratched his head.

"Gawrsh, aren't we here because of the picture?"

He pulled out the photo that contained Roxas and Ankoku and showed it to them.

As they looked at it, they couldn't help but thought it was a clue that would tell them what was going on here.

"Yeah! Goofy's right!" Donald said.

Goofy smiled.

"C'mon! Let's go find this mansion!"

They quickly ran out of the station and began their search.

/

Meanwhile, Tsukiko stood near the train station, looking out at the sun set. She sighed sadly as she went over her recent plot.

After she learned about Axel kidnapping Kairi, she had tried to sneak into the Organization headquarters to rescue her. She was almost successful, but that insufferable Saix managed to stop her and almost killed her. If it wasn't for Axel rescuing her at the last minute, she would have faded back into darkness.

She touched the back of her neck, where Saix managed to leave a scar thanks to his claymore.

"This is going from bad to worse" she said.

She sadly looked up at the sky, thinking about Roxas and Ankoku.

"What would you guys do?" she asked herself.

"Because I'm all out of options"

As if by some miracle, her prayers seemed to have been answered.

"Tsukiko!"

The nobody turned around to see Sora and Hikari running towards her.

She was surprised but pleased to see the other half of her friends. She gave them a warm smile and waved at them.

"Hey you guys, how have you been?"

Sora smiled.

"Oh, you know, tracking some friends, defeating some heartless"

"Our work is never done" Hikari joked.

Tsukiko smiled weakly, knowing how true that was.

"Were you able to find your friend, Kairi?" she asked.

She knew that there was no way that they could have found her. Not when she was in the enemy stronghold. But for appearance sake, she just played along for the moment.

Sora shook his head sadly.

"No" he said softly.

Tsukiko gave him a weak smile and squeezed his shoulder. She couldn't help but see Roxas when he looked like that. Whenever he was down about something, he tended to make the same face.

Hikari gave her friend a weak smile, knowing what he was feeling. Her heart went out to Riku, knowing that she would find him soon enough.

An idea suddenly popped into her head. Since they didn't know where the mansion was, maybe Tsukiko would know.

She took the photo from Goofy and handed it to her.

"Hey, Tsukiko. Do you know where this mansion is?" she asked.

Tsukiko looked at it and nearly went bug eyed when she saw Roxas and Ankoku in the picture.

"W-where did you get this?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice.

"Some guy in a black hood gave it to us" Sora said.

"We think it might be a clue as to where to Organization is at"

Tsukiko didn't need to think too hard about who gave them the picture. She knew that Riku and Taiyouko were trying to help them with their journey. If they gave them this picture, then that meant they wanted them to infiltrate the Organization's headquarters.

She mentally grinned at this. This was too good to be true. If they went to the castle, then that would mean they would be able to find Kairi. And if she showed them where to go, then she could tag along with them. She could still save Kairi.

She mentally thanked the gods for giving her a second chance at this.

She plastered on a bright smile as she handed the photo back to them.

"Sure!" she chirped.

"I'll show where it is. In fact, why don't I go with you? It tends to get dangerous in the outskirts of town, so you'll probably want someone who knows these streets"

The group smiled, glad that they had someone to help them.

"Alright, then lead the way" Sora said.

Tsukiko nodded and took them to where the mansion was.

As they walked, she went over plans on how she would save Kairi.

/

"Why would a mansion be out in the middle of a forest?" Sora asked as they walked through the trees.

Tsukiko shrugged. She really didn't know the reason either besides that it was a hideout for Diz while he was trying to wake Sora and Hikari up.

"I can't really tell you" she said.

"For as long as I've been here, the mansion was always in the forest. I doubt even the locals would know"

That peaked everyone's interest.

"You're not from around here?" Goofy asked.

Tsukiko shook her head.

"No. I came to Twilight Town a couple years ago"

Hikari raised an eyebrow. She couldn't help but feel a familiar connection to Tsukiko. It was as if she reminded her of someone.

When they made it to the clearing, they were shocked to see Hayner, Pence and Olette on the ground.

They quickly ran up to them and helped them up.

"Hey, are you alright?" Sora asked.

Hayner nodded and slowly sat down.

"What happened?" Hikari asked.

Hayner rubbed a sore spot on his head.

"We came here looking for Kairi" he explained.

"Then those white things attacked us"

Everyone scowled at that. It seemed the Organization just couldn't leave them alone.

"It's really dangerous out here" Tsukiko warned.

"I'm sure I've told you three a thousand times not to come out here by yourselves"

"Yeah, you guys didn't have to go do that" Sora said.

Hayner gave him a stern look.

"Of course we did. Kairi's our friend, too, ya know"

Hikari smiled softly at that. Even though they didn't know Kairi for very long, they were still willing to try to help her. It made her feel happy that she had friends who were looking out for her.

Sora seemed to be thinking that same thing as well.

"You're right…" he admitted.

"You know, I never thought of it like that before"

Tsukiko gave the Hayner a stern look.

"That still doesn't explain why you would come here of all places" she said.

Hayner just shrugged her off and looked at the mansion.

"Word is, this mansion gets a lot of strange visitors" he said.

"We thought this place might be the gateway to some kind of alternate Twilight Town" Olette explained.

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that.

Alternate Twilight Town?

"What do you mean, alternate Twilight Town?" Hikari asked.

Pence looked at Goofy.

"Hey, Goofy, do you think you could show us those crystals of yours?" he asked.

Goofy pulled out the munny pouch that the king gave us and the two crystals that were in it.

Olette pulled out her own munny pouch and held it up next to Goofy's.

"I made that pouch myself, and I still have it" she said.

"So there shouldn't be two of them here"

Hayner held up the trophy the group won from Seifer.

"And this is the trophy Seifer gave you" he said.

"It's the only one of its kind" Pence explained.

"Same for the crystals- red, blue, yellow, green, white-only one of each color. But you've got your own"

"So, where'd you get it?" Hayner asked.

Tsukiko chewed the inside of her cheeks, knowing there was no way to cover this up. She knew those were from Diz's Twilight Town because she was in there. She didn't know how she was going to explain this.

"The pouch is from the King" Goofy said.

"When he gave us money for the train ride, he gave us the crystals too"

"But then…where did the KING get it?" Pence asked.

"See? There's gotta be another town out there like this one" Hayner said.

"That would explain how the King got that pouch and the crystals. Everything makes sense"

Everyone let this information sink in. So there was another Twilight Town out there, and that's where the King got the pouch and crystals?

"It…does?" Sora asked.

Pence nodded.

"That other town must be where whatever's missing from here went" he said.

"Like Kairi" Olette.

Tsukiko gasped slightly, never thinking of that. It would make sense that the Organization would use the other Twilight Town to keep her hidden.

Hikari looked at Tsukiko.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Tsukiko sighed and looked at them sadly. There was no way that she could keep pretending to be oblivious about this whole situation when everyone was depending on this information. She knew where Kairi was being held and she could probably help them while they helped her in return.

Even if they got mad at her, she was fine with that. This was her fault after all.

"Listen, about Kairi" she said.

"I'm afraid that I have-"

She was cut off when a bunch of nobodies appeared. Dusks surrounded them so that there was no way for them to escape.

Everyone pulled out there weapons while Hayner, Pence and Olette hid behind the mansion walls.

Just as a dusk was about to attack them, King Mickey suddenly appeared and cut it down.

"Watch out!" he cried out.

Everyone was relieved to see that their friend was alright. They thought something happened to him after he chased Xemnas through that portal.

They quickly backed the king up and got rid of the nobodies. They weren't going to let the Organization let in the way any longer.

A couple dusks managed to get past them and darted towards where Tsukiko was blocking the mansion entrance.

Everyone panicked, thinking that she wouldn't be able to protect herself from them.

"Tsukiko! Run!" Hikari cried.

Tsukiko closed her eyes and sighed. Looks like it was time to let the cat out of the bag.

Opening her purple eyes, she smirked darkly and summoned up her scythe.

She swung the mighty blade in front of her and sliced the empty shells in two.

Everyone's eyes went huge when they saw this. They were amazed to see Tsukiko go into action so quickly. But what amazed them was how she summoned her weapon. The way is suddenly appeared in her hands and the way that it looked reminded them of…

"That weapon" Hikari said.

She gave Tsukiko a shocked look.

"You're a nobody?"

Tsukiko dismissed her weapon and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Yeah. But not just any nobody" she said.

"Take a wild guess of who I look like"

Hikari studied her for a moment. As she looked at her face better, she noticed that she looked exactly like someone she knew. Someone she knew her whole life.

A hand flew up to her mouth when she saw Taiyouko's face instead of Tsukiko's.

"Mom" she choked out.

Tsukiko nodded gravely.

"Yeah. I'm Taiyouko-your mother's nobody" she said.

Hikari fell to her knees when she heard this. So her mother kept another ting hidden from her. Not only did she kept the fact that Xemnas may have been her father, but she failed to mention that she had a nobody.

Tsukiko knelt in front of her and gave her knee a squeeze.

"Hey, it's ok" she said softly.

"If it makes you feel better, I was just as shock as you when I realized I was a nobody"

She gave her a weak smile.

"I'm different from regular nobodies. While the rest of them lack a heart, I actually have one"

Sora raised an eyebrow. A nobody with a heart? Now she was messing with.

"There's just no way" he said.

Tsukiko rolled her eyes, never realizing how Sora could be so much like Roxas.

"Fine, I'll give you proof"

She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her chest. Sora yelped when he realized that he was practically grabbing her cleavage and was shocked to feel a heartbeat.

When his hand was released, he looked at it as if it burned and kept asking Kairi for forgive him in his head.

Hikari looked up at Tsukiko sadly. She couldn't help but see her mother at the moment with the way she looked serious.

"Why didn't you say anything when we first met you?" she asked.

Tsukiko gave her a lop-sided grin.

"I didn't want to scare you and I doubted you would have believed me" she said.

"I'm sorry if this is too much for you, but I'm sure everything will be explained soon"

Hikari slowly rose to her feet and gripped her side. She had been hearing that saying a lot lately. Everything will be explained soon, but when would soon be? She had been kept in the dark long enough and now she wanted answers.

She gave her mother's nobody a weak smile. She really couldn't be mad at her since she didn't mean it. It seemed she was just as lost with all that was happing.

"I'm not mad" she said.

"Just confused"

Sora, Donald and Goofy agreed as well. How could they be mad at her when she really didn't do anything?

Tsukiko laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. Now that, that was out of the way, she had to explain about the whole Kairi situation.

"Hey, um, about the whole Kairi thing" she said.

Sora raised an eyebrow for a second before his face grew serious.

"You know where she is, don't you?"

Tsukiko nodded and bit her lip.

"Kind of" she said.

"But before you ask me where she is, let me start off by saying that I had no idea that Axel would kidnap her"

Everyone jumped at that.

"Axel!" Donald cried.

"You know him?" Hikari asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"He's kind of my boyfriend"

Sora was fuming at this point. Forget about not being mad at her. She was associated with the creep who kidnapped Kairi.

"You're in love with that jerk?" he snapped.

"He's from the Organization! He's one of the bad guys! How could you love someone who kidnaps?"

Tsukiko gave him a harsh stare.

"As I said before, I had no idea that he kidnapped her until Hayner said something" she snapped.

"And you're wrong about him being a bad guy. He's not associated with the Organization anymore. Not after everything that's happened"

She sadly looked at the ground, thinking about Roxas and Ankoku.

"I tried to rescue Kairi as soon as I figured out what Axel was doing" she said.

"He got the idea that she would help bring our friends back. I knew there was no way that she would be able to pull that off, so I went to save her from the Organization. I almost succeeded, but as you can tell…"

She moved her ponytail to show the scar she got from her fight with Saix.

"I lost"

Everyone cringed at the scar. It looked like it really hurt.

Tsukiko fixed her hair back and looked at the group.

"I've been trying to find a way to save Kairi ever since she was kidnapped" she said.

"Since this is my fault that it happened, it's only right that I be the one to get her out of this mess. The Organization is making it hard for anyone to get into their stronghold, so it's impossible to just walk through a portal. Maybe there is the alternate Twilight Town that could lead us to the Organization"

She gave them a serious look.

"If you'll let me go with you, I'd really appreciate it" she said.

"I know it's your job to save the worlds any everyone, but it's my job to fix my wrong doings. I don't care if you guys hate me or despise me for what happened. I just need to atone from my sins"

Everyone looked at her for a moment. They were a little surprised that she was willing to save Kairi, even though it was her fault that she was kidnapped.

Hikari looked at her for a moment and knew that she meant every word she said. She didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust this nobody. After all, she was a part of her mother.

"Ok. You can come with us" she said.

Everyone looked shocked at that.

"Are you serious?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded.

"Yes" she said.

"You heard her. She said she wanted to rescue Kairi. She even got hurt because of it. I think that's good enough to forgive her. Besides, if we have a nobody on our team, it'll give us the advantage when we're fighting the Organization"

Sora grimaced at the idea, but nodded to it.

"This doesn't mean that I forgive you just yet" he warned to Tsukiko.

Tsukiko rolled her eyes.

"I would have considered you an idiot if you did" she said.

Sora was about to say something to that, but someone cleared their throat to gain their attention.

Everyone looked at King Mickey, who looked a little ticked off that he was being ignored.

"Oh! Sorry your Majesty!" Hikari said.

"We were just taking care of a serious situation"

Mickey nodded in understanding and walked up to them.

"I got something to tell ya" he said.

"I found out where Ansem is-Ansem the Wise! The real Ansem"

Hikari looked surprised.

"You know where my grandpa is?"

Mickey nodded.

"He snuck into Organization Xlll's stronghold" he said.

The group looked relieved about that. If an old man could get to their stronghold, then that meant they could too.

"And we've figured out where Kairi is" Sora said.

"I'm pretty sure we're right"

"But why'd you all come here?" Mickey asked.

Hikari held up the photo of Roxas and Ankoku.

"Someone gave us a clue" she said.

Mickey looked surprised.

"Who?" he asked.

"Well, your Majesty, Sora and Hikari thinks it mighta been Riku" Goofy explained.

Hikari's heart ached when she heard his name. After all this time, they still hadn't found him. They figured out where Kairi was, but not Riku or her mother.

"It's just a feeling we had" she admitted softly.

Mickey shrugged.

"Well, if that's what you think, then it's probably right" he said.

Hikari's face lit up.

"You mean Riku's ok!" she cried.

"If that's what you think" Mickey replied.

Sora and Hikari raised an eyebrow. They found it a little too odd with how the King spoke. It was too casual, almost as if he knew what was going on.

He was definitely hiding something.

"We've waited long enough, Your Majesty!" Sora said.

"Tell us what you know!"

Mickey looked away from them sadly.

"It's not for me to say" he said.

Hikari groaned in frustration. She went up to him and knelt down so she could see his face. He wasn't going to get away with this.

"But why?" she insisted.

Mickey shook his head sadly.

"I don't want to break my promise" he said.

Sora and Hikari gasped at that.

Promised?

"You made a promise to Riku?" Sora cried.

Mickey quickly covered his mouth when he realized he spilled the beans.

Sora smiled brightly at that.

"So he's okay! We can see him again!"

Hayner, Pence and Olette came out from their hiding spots.

"Who's Riku?" Hayner asked.

Sora smiled.

"He's my best friend" he said.

"And Hikari's boyfriend" Goofy added with a giggle.

A light bulb went off in Pence's head.

"That's IT!" he said.

Olette knelt in front of Mickey.

"Your Majesty? You got the pouch with the crystals from Riku, didn't you?" she asked.

"And you promised not to tell, right?"

Mickey sighed sadly. He already broke his promise, so what was the point of hiding the rest?

"Gosh guys"

Everyone turned around when they heard Hikari suddenly growl. She had her head bowed so no one could see how ticked off she was at the moment.

Riku told the King not to say anything? He made him promise that he would never speak about him? He made him promise to keep his well being a secret?

That just totally pissed her off. She had been going on this wild goose chase for him, worrying if he was alright or not, and he was telling the King to keep it a secret. That did not settle with her well.

Sora gulped and made himself step closer to Hikari.

"Hikari…you ok?" he asked.

Hikari let out a frustrated growl.

"RIKU!"

She summoned her keyblade and blasted a pillar that connected to the mansion. Everyone jumped when they saw how angry she was.

Hikari glared up at the sky and held her keyblade out.

"Riku! When I get my hands on you, you're going to wish that you were still missing!" she shouted.

Everyone stepped back, in case they were her next target.

Tsukiko couldn't help but sweat drop at the sight.

"_She's got Ankoku's anger down pat" _she thought.

Sora carefully made Hikari put her keyblade away.

"Why don't you save that for later?" he suggested in a shaky voice.

"Right now, why don't we try to get into the Organization's stronghold before you decided to kill Riku"

Hikari huffed but nodded.

"Fine" she said.

They all walked into the mansion and headed for the place that would take them to the other Twilight Town.

/

The inside of the mansion was just as dilapidated as it was on the outside. It made the group wonder how they could get to the other Twilight Town from here.

"There's gotta be a computer somewhere" Mickey said.

Everyone raised an eyebrow at him.

A computer? Here?

"Do you think it's connected to the other Twilight Town?" Pence asked.

Mickey nodded.

"It might be" he said.

"And there should be a way into the realm of darkness there"

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know all of this?" she asked.

Mickey rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well…"

Hikari growled.

"Riku told you, didn't he?"

Mickey gave her a pleading look.

"Please, Hikari. I made a promise"

Hikari jabbed a finger at him.

"Aha!" she cried.

Mikcey cringed, realizing he broke another promise.

Tsukiko just pushed her along.

"Come on. We don't have time for this" she said.

Everyone just followed the king as he entered the old library. They were surprised that there was a secret trap door that lead to a more computerized room.

"I take it that we're getting close" Tsukiko said.

They went down the steps and headed into the computer room that Diz used when he was monitoring Roxas and Ankoku.

"There it is!" Mickey cried.

They went up to it and examined it. Since none of them really knew how to use a computer, they had no idea on how to use it.

"How does it work?" Donald asked.

"I can handle it" Pence said.

He went into the seat and started typing stuff in.

"Let's see now…"

He typed away some more.

"Oh!"

"What's wrong?" Hayner asked.

Pence sighed.

"I can't go further without a password" he said.

Everyone groaned. They highly doubted that they would find it written on the wall this time.

"Do you have any idea what the password might be?" Mickey asked.

Pence looked at the screen and scratched his head.

"Not sure" he said.

Goofy held up the photo.

"Well, we only have this photo" he said.

Donald jumped.

"And the ice cream!"

Hikari smiled a little.

"Oh yeah. The one that Donald ate up" she said.

"It was in the box with the photo" Goofy explained.

Tsukiko crossed her arms in thought.

"Do you think that has any connection to the password?" she asked.

A light bulb went off in Mickey's head.

"That's it!" he said.

"Ansem the Wise loved ice cream!"

Hikari recalled the memory where she and Leon had ice cream with their grandpa.

"Oh, yeah. He did" she said.

Pence typed something in.

"Okay, what's the flavor?" he asked.

Everyone shrugged and looked at Hikari. Only she would know it.

"It's Sea-Salt Ice cream" she said.

Pence typed it in and was rewarded with good results.

"It worked!"

The device next to the computer hummed to life, signaling that they could use it.

The group looked at it. This would be the key to getting to the Organization.

"Let's go" Sora said.

Tsukiko looked at Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"You three be careful" she warned.

"And don't stay down here for long. It could be dangerous"

They nodded.

"We'll be here to hold down the fort" Hayner said.

"Say hi to Kairi!" Olette added.

Sora and Hikari smiled at that.

"We will" Sora said.

"And thanks for everything" Hikari added.

They looked at their friends.

"Alright, let's go"

Sora gave Hikari a stern look.

"Drink your potion" he warned.

"And don't think that I didn't notice that you didn't drink it when we helped Tron and fought Sephiroth"

Hikari groaned and took a quick sip of the potion. She only has one mouthful left of it, so she had to use it wisely.

"Happy?" she asked.

Sora nodded.

"Now we can go"

They all managed to squeeze into the device and were zapped into the other Twilight Town.

The ending was coming near.

/

**A/N: So Tsukiko has joined the team. I'm a little excited about it actually, but I'm just cringing about the next chapter, knowing how it'll affect her. **

**And not to mention poor Riku. When Hikari gets her hands on him, he's going to wish that he was still hiding.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	42. The Bond of Flames

Chapter 42: The Bond of Flames

**A/N: Well, here's one of the tear jerking chapters of the story. Poor Tsukiko, her heart's going to be broken. It really pains me to write this chapter, but I need to follow the game's story line. **

**This chapter is dedicated to Axel and Tsukiko. They've proved to us that even nobodies can love, even when they don't have a heart.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**R.I.P Axel.**

**Enjoy!**

/

When the group was transported to the other Twilight Town, they were surprised that they were still in the computer room. It almost seemed like they didn't even leave the computer room. The only difference was that Hayner, Pence and Olette weren't around.

"Are we back in the same place?" Sora asked.

Tsukiko looked around before her eyes sadly fell on the computer. This computer was broken and damaged beyond repair.

"No. We're not" she said.

Everyone went over to the computer and examined it.

Hikari realized which Twilight Town they were in.

"This is the other Twilight Town" she said.

"Roxas and Ankoku's Twilight Town"

Images of Roxas destroying the computer flashed through her head. She could almost feel the panic that Ankoku felt as she tried to pull Roxas away.

Tsukiko instinctively touched her neck where Diz placed the shock collar on her. He always zapped her just so she wouldn't say anything to Roxas and to make sure she didn't try to take them away.

"_If only I had been stronger" _she thought.

She shook that thought aside. It was pointless now. Roxas and Ankoku were gone. They chose that fate. She had to live with that and had to help their somebodies rescue Kairi. It's the least she could do for them.

"There's gotta be an entrance into the dark realm somewhere" Mickey said.

"Let's split up"

Mickey ran through the basement hallway and left them there.

"Doesn't he know that splitting up isn't such a good idea?" Hikari asked.

"With the Organization lurking at every corner, they could attack us when we're alone"

The others nodded in understanding.

"Then let's go after him" Donald said.

They quickly ran through the hallway and quickly made it up to the King.

They were about to scold their friend for running off ahead of them, but stopped when they saw what the King was looking at.

There, in the corner of the room was a massive sphere of darkness. It looked so out of place in the mechanical room.

"This is it" Mickey said.

He quickly ran through the portal, leaving the others behind again.

"He likes to run off, doesn't he?" Tsukiko said.

"The King does have his moments" Goofy admitted.

Sora stepped forward.

"Let's go" he said.

They slowly made their way through the portal and entered the realm of the Betwix and Between.

/

The Betwix and Between was a rather strange place. It was nether good, nor bad. They sensed darkness, yet they sensed light. It was as if they really were between worlds almost. It was kind of creepy in a way.

"What is this place?" Hikari asked.

Sora cautiously stepped forward and looked around.

"Riku! Kairi!" he called out.

Hikari looked around as well.

"Mom!" she called out.

Their calls fell on depth ears. All that they heard was the echo of their voices.

"Maybe they're on the other side of this place?" Tsukiko suggested.

Goofy rubbed his head.

"But, which way should we go?" he asked.

Donald tried to think as well.

Tsukiko shrugged and pointed forward.

"When all else fails, move forward" she said.

"You're least likely to get lost that way"

Sora nodded at the idea.

"Good idea" he said.

He went to take a step forward, but a group of nobodies surrounded them.

Everyone summoned their weapons and got into a defensive stance.

"The Organization must know we're here" Hikari said.

Tsukiko swung her scythe at a few nobodies before kicking two of them out of her way.

"Well, let's get rid of these creeps before they come here"

Everyone quickly spread out so they weren't surrounded by the dusks.

Donald and Goofy teamed up since they couldn't fight the nobodies by themselves. Tsukiko managed to do fine on her own. With the scythe of hers, she was able to strike from a long range and didn't have to worry about getting hurt. Sora used physical attacks while Hikari used magical. They wanted to get rid of these things fast, so they were going to use their strongest attacks.

As the fighting went on, more nobodies appeared. It seemed whenever they slashed one down, two more would pop in its place. It was really starting to get annoying and they were starting to get tired.

They all had their backs to each other and looked at the nobodies that surrounded them.

"There's just no end to them" Hikari said.

Tsukiko growled in annoyance. She could use her nobody powers to get rid of these things, but she didn't know what it would do to her. She had just remembered being a nobody, so using her powers so suddenly would be bad. But she just couldn't let her friends do all the fighting. She could already tell that they were tired and that they wanted to save their strength for the Organization.

Sucking up her pride, she gripped her scythe tightly and faced the nobodies. If she had to fade back to the darkness, she was going to bring these bastards with her.

Just then, a voice that she knew all too well could be heard.

"Don't stop moving, or the darkness will overtake you!"

Axel appeared out of nowhere and flung his chakrams at a couple nobodies before looking at them.

"Get going!" he ordered.

Everyone was surprised. They had never expected to see Axel again after what he did to Kairi. And yet, here he was, trying to save them from the nobodies.

This was really messed up.

"Why?" Hikari asked.

Axel just scoffed and shook his head, showing that it wasn't important.

"Don't ask. Just do it!" he said.

A couple of dusks pounced on him and pinned him to the ground.

Tsukiko panicked when she saw her boyfriend being overpowered by the nobodies and quickly rushed over to him to save him. She slashed at the nobodies before helping him up. Sure, she was still mad at him for kidnapping Kairi. But he was her boyfriend, and she still loved him, regardless for his faults.

Sora and Hikari ran over to them and checked to see if they were fine.

"You ok?" Sora asked.

Axel nodded and sat up.

"I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me…" he admitted.

There was no point it keeping anything from his best friend's other half.

"But after that, Saix caught her" he said.

"He's a member of Organization Xlll. Saix. Got it memorized? Now go save her!"

As he was talking, a dusk lunged at their backs, thinking it was preparing a sneak attack.

Hikari quickly noticed it and cut it down.

"Back off!" she cried.

She and Sora quickly ran off to get rid of a few hordes while Axel and Tsukiko teamed up. The red head looked at his girlfriend while he gripped his chakrams.

"You still mad about me for all of this?" he asked.

Tsukiko ducked when a dusk lunged for her and quickly decapitated it.

"I was a first" she said.

"But since you were trying to rescue her as well, and saving us from an onslaught, I guess I can forgive you"

Axel just smirked and set his chakrams on fire before flinging them.

"When this is over, I'll make it up to you" he said.

"I'll take you somewhere that will take your mind off of everything that's happened"

Tsukiko flung her scythe at a group of dusks and flipped through the air before catching it.

"If we get out of here alive, it's a date" she joked.

Axel was about to laugh, but he saw an assassin nobody sprang from the ground and was about to lodge its spiked arm into the back of Tsukiko's neck.

"No you don't!"

He flung his chakram at the nobody and set it on fire.

Tsukiko looked around the area and saw that more nobodies were pouring into the place.

"There's just no end to them" she said.

She saw Hikari and her friends struggling to hold their end up, but she could tell that they were losing.

She looked at her scythe for a moment before gripping it tightly.

"Guess I have no choice" she muttered.

Her body started to glow a light purple as she began to unleash her true powers. She lost the connection when Axel lightly tugged at her ponytail and gave her a stern look.

"Don't even think about it" he warned.

Tsukiko gave her boyfriend a tired glare.

"But if I don't do something, they'll-"

"The only thing you do is get us all killed" Axel warned.

"You haven't used your real powers yet since you've remembered. Using them now would only be suicidal. And that is something that I just can't allow"

He cupped her face and gave her a sad look.

"I lost Roxas and Ankoku. There's just no way that I would allow myself to lose you too. I'm not letting these creeps take the one person who means something to me"

Tsukiko looked touched by his words. Even though he didn't have a heart, he still tried to show emotions when he was with her. It was as if he had a heart when he was around her.

"But what are we going to do about these nobodies?" she asked.

Axel closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and giving her a weak smile.

"I got it taken care of" he said.

Tsukiko gave him a confused look and was about to say something.

"Axel, what are you-"

The red head silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips.

"Don't worry about it" he said.

He grabbed her arm and led her to where Sora and Hikari were and backed up with them.

The red head scowled when he saw how many nobodies there were.

"I think I liked it better when they were on my side" he joked.

Sora gave him a dull look.

"Feeling a little… regret?" he asked.

"Because if you are, it's too late to feel it" Hikari added.

Axel smirked a little. Even when they were gone, he could still see Roxas and Ankoku from the way their other halves talked. So they really weren't gone.

He shook his head and gave them a grin.

"Nah. I can handle these punks" he said.

"Watch this"

Tsukiko looked at her boyfriend.

"Axel?"

The red head sighed sadly then quickly kissed Tsukiko on the lips.

"_I'm doing this for you_" he thought.

He quickly jumped into the middle of the horde of nobodies and set his chakrams on fire before unleashing his ultimate attack.

The whole area burst into flames, incinerating everything in sight.

Hikari managed to put up a shield in time; otherwise they would have been barbequed. When she lowered the shield, the group was amazed to see the nobodies were completely gone.

"Whoa" Sora breathed.

"He did it" Hikari said.

The sound of Tsukiko screaming alerted them and caused them to whip their heads.

What they saw made their hearts churn.

There, lying on the ground and slowly fading away, was Axel.

Tsukiko had tears streaming down her face as she watched her boyfriend slowly vanished.

"Axel!" she cried.

She fell to her knees in sheer shock and carefully picked the upper part of his body while cradling his head to her chest.

Sora and Hikari quickly ran up to the nobody and knelt next to him.

They didn't know why, but seeing Axel fade away made their hearts ache. It was as if they were seeing a friend die.

Hikari could have sworn she heard someone scream something in her head.

"**Axel, you idiot!"**

She didn't know who it was, but her heart was telling her that it was Ankoku.

She couldn't help, but let a tear run down her face as she looked at the red head.

Sora slowly swallowed the lumped that was lodged into his throat.

"You're…fading away" he managed to say.

Axel gave them a weak grin. Despite committing kamikaze for the sake of his friend's safety, he still had the strength to act like his usual self.

"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" he said.

"Not that nobodies actually HAVE beings…right?"

He managed to turn his head and looked at them. He didn't know how much longer he had on this world, so he wanted to see their faces for one last time.

He wanted to see Roxas and Ankoku.

"Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi" he said.

"Oh, almost forgot…sorry for what I did to her"

Hikari wiped the tear on her face. She didn't know why she was getting so choked up about this, but she was. It was as if her heart knew him and was sad that he was dying like this.

"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself" she managed to say.

Axel smirked slightly and shook his head.

"Think I'll pass" he said.

"My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one"

He laughed slightly at his joke.

Tsukiko continued to cry as she rubbed his head. She didn't think it was funny that he was slowly dying and that she was the cause of it.

Sora bit his lip.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?" he asked.

He always wondered why he would kidnap Kairi. He found it odd that a nobody would do that. And since this was Axel's last moments alive, he figured now was the only chance for an answer.

Axel closed his eyes for a moment.

"I wanted to see Roxas and Ankoku" he admitted.

He opened his eyes and looked at them.

"They…were the only ones that I liked…they made me feel…like I had a heart. It's kind of…funny" he said.

As Hikari looked at him, a memory from long ago flashed through her head. One that took place back at Radiant Garden, when she was a little girl and where Xemnas wasn't in the picture.

/

_Hikari sniffled as she looked around the market place. She had been walking with Leon around town to see the stores and displays. She saw this one store that was selling out jewelry and she ran off ahead of Leon. _

_She thought that her brother was behind her, but when she turned around, he was nowhere in sight. All she saw was a sea of people walking this way and that to their next destination. _

_She tried looking for him, but after not seeing him for over five minutes, she started to get scared._

_She fell to her knees and started to cry. She felt so lost and afraid without her brother. He was like her shield when they went out. _

_As long as Leon was by her side, nothing could happen to her._

_She had hoped that someone would stop and help her, but she knew better. _

_Nobody messed with a sorceress._

_She curled her knees up to her chest and just continued to cry._

_Where, oh where could her brother be?_

_As she was crying, a teenage boy walked by. He was about to walk away, but stopped when he heard Hikari cry._

"_Huh?"_

_He looked down and saw Hikari crying. _

"_Oh boy"_

_He knelt down in front of her, so he wouldn't scare her and gently tapped her arm._

"_Hey, you ok?"_

_Hikari looked up when she heard someone talk to her and saw a boy with flaming red hair and bright green eyes. The sight of the boy's hair almost reminded her of fire._

_She scooted back in fear and whimpered slightly._

_The boy held up his hands defensively, showing that he meant no harm._

"_Hey, easy there. I'm not going to hurt you" he said._

_Hikari looked at him for a moment, seeing that he was telling the truth and slowly scooted back to him._

_The boy smiled slightly at that._

"_That's a girl" he said._

"_Now as I asked before, are you ok?"_

_Hikari looked at the ground for a moment and shook her head._

"_I can't find Ni-san" she choked out. _

_The boy scratched his head in thought._

"_You got lost, huh?" _

_Hikari nodded and sniffled some more._

_The red head patted her head._

"_Hey, it's ok" he said._

"_I'm sure we'll find your brother, soon"_

_He offered her a hand._

"_Come on. Your brother isn't going to find you when you're just sitting here"_

_Hikari looked at his hand for a moment. _

_Leon always told her to never trust strangers and to never go with them. She understood that clearly, but her heart was telling her that it was alright to trust this boy. It was as if it was telling her that he would protect her._

_She slowly offered her hand to him and let him pull her up._

"_Alright, let's go find that brother of yours" he said._

_Hikari nodded and gripped his hand tightly as they walked._

_They searched the market place for a few minutes. No matter where they went, they couldn't find Leon._

_Hikari got teary eyed as they walked, but she wouldn't cry out. Crying wouldn't help them find Leon. _

_As they walked, her stomach started to growl. She didn't have lunch when they arrived at the market place and it was already past three._

_The boy seemed to notice this and dug some munny out of his pocket._

"_Hang on a sec"_

_He went over to an ice cream vendor and ordered two Sea-salt ice cream bars and handed one to Hikari._

"_Here, that should fill your stomach for a bit" he said._

_Hikari muttered a shy thank you to him and took a bite out of her frozen treat. _

_Her face scrunched up when she tasted how salty it was before turning into sweet. _

_The boy laughed at her expression._

"_I was like that when I first tried this stuff" he said._

_They sat on a bench and ate their frozen treat._

_As they were eating, Hikari noticed that the boy had the same shade of eyes as she did. Everyone in Radiant Garden usually had blue eyes. The ones who didn't usually stuck out like a sore thumbs. That was one of the reasons why she was always made fun of._

"_You have the same eyes as I do" she said._

_The boy looked at her for a moment then looked up at the sky._

"_So I do" he said._

_Hikari ate her ice cream then looked at him again._

"_Do people make fun of you for your eyes?" she asked._

_The boy raised an eyebrow then shook his head._

"_Can't say that they do" he said._

"_Why?"_

_Hikari sadly looked at the ground._

"_Everyone makes fun of me because of my eyes" she said._

"_They said they're not normal and that I'm not a normal person"_

_The boy ruffled her hair slightly._

"_Hey, cheer up" he said._

"_There's nothing wrong with being different. In fact, being different is pretty good. It would be boring if we were all the same and looked exactly alike. As the saying goes: dare to be different"_

_Hikari looked up at him hopefully. Nobody ever said anything like that to her. It felt nice that someone had something nice to say to her._

"_Really?" she asked._

_The boy smirked._

"_I never lie" he said._

_His smirk brightens slightly when he looked at Hikari's popsicle stick._

"_Hey! You won!"_

_Hikari looked at her popsicle stick in confusion and saw the word 'winner' on it._

_She won? What did she win?_

"_What did I win?" she asked._

_The boy chuckled a little._

"_If you hand that over to the ice cream vendor, they'll give you another ice cream for free" he said._

"_You better keep that safe somewhere"_

_Hikari looked at the stick for a moment then at the boy. He had been so nice to her since she met him, that she felt like she had to repay him._

_She held the popsicle stick out and gave him to him._

_The boy looked surprised._

"_You sure?" he asked._

_Hikari nodded as she smiled shyly._

_The boy grinned at her and slowly took the stick from her and put it in his pocket._

"_Thanks" he said._

_Hikari smiled._

_She felt good that she made someone happy._

"_Hikari!"_

_Hikari turned around and saw Leon running towards her._

"_Ni-san!"_

_She jumped off the bench and quickly ran towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he hugged her tightly and rubbed the side of her face with his cheek._

"_Thank god you're alright" he said._

"_I've been looking everywhere for you. You should know better than to run off like that. I bet you were scared out of you mind"_

_Hikari continued to hug Leon as he rubbed her back. Her brother was back and she was safe and sound._

"_I was ok, Ni-san" she said._

"_That boy helped me out and even got me ice cream"_

_She pointed to the boy who got up from the bench and looked at them. _

_Leon looked shocked when he saw who his sister was pointing to._

"_Lea?" he asked._

_The red head gave him a mock salute._

"_The one and only" he said._

_Leon's stare harden as he griped his sister._

"_Why did you help my sister?" he asked._

"_You never help anyone"_

_Lea snorted._

"_As if I was going to leave a little girl by herself" he said._

"_I'm not that heartless. Besides, I didn't know she was your sister"_

_Leon growled._

_He always hated it when people picked on his sister. Didn't they see that she was just a normal girl?_

_Even though he hated Lea and had a feeling he wasn't trustworthy, he still had to thank him for helping his sister out._

"_Thanks for looking out for Hikari" he said._

_Lea shrugged._

"_Like I said, as if I would leave a little girl by herself" he said._

"_Just make sure that doesn't happen again"_

_Leon nodded, then looked at Hikari._

"_Let's go home. I'm sure mom is worried about us"_

_Hikari nodded and waved goodbye to Lea._

"_Bye!" she said._

"_And thanks for the ice cream!"_

_Lea smirked and waved as they left._

"_Take care, kiddo"_

/

Tears ran down Hikari's face as she looked at Axel. This was the same boy who helped her out when she was little. The only person who treated her nicely on her world besides Leon and got her ice cream.

"Lea" she choked out.

Axel looked surprised for a second, but managed to give her a weak grin.

"So you finally remembered me, huh?" he said.

"I can see you didn't stay out of trouble"

Hikari wiped her eyes. It was no wonder why she was so upset to see Axel vanish.

"What can I say? Getting into trouble is like a second nature to me"

Axel laughed weakly.

"Stay safe, ok? And tell your mom I said hi"

Hikari nodded as she fought back the tears.

"Thanks for the ice cream" she managed to say.

She knew it was a stupid thing to say when he was dying, but she knew that he would figure out what she meant.

He must have, because he wore that trademark grin of his.

Sora carefully helped Hikari up.

"Let's give them some space" he said, nudging towards Tsukiko.

"I'm sure they want to say their goodbyes"

Hikari nodded and let Sora walk her away while the nobody lovers shared their last moments together.

/

Tsukiko cried into Axel's hair as she held him.

This could not be happing. It just couldn't be. She had lost Roxas and Ankoku, and now she was going to lose the man she loved most.

Axel wiped the tear that fell from her eyes and held her face. It pained him that he had to make her suffer like this, but it was either he disappeared or she did. And, being the nobody that he was, he was not going to let the woman that made him feel alive die.

"Don't cry, Tsukiko" he said.

"You know how I 'feel' when yo cry"

Tsukiko managed to give him a weak smile at his joke. Even when he was dying, he was still cracking jokes.

She bit her lip when she saw how much of him was fading away. Any second now, he would disappear from his arms for good. She would never hear his voice, or feel his warm touch ever again. She would never feel the warm shock his kisses gave her when he pressed his lips on hers.

Just thinking of that made her cry harder. She held onto him tightly, as if she let him go, he would disappear.

Tears pooled her purple eyes as she looked at her lover. She cupped his face with her hand and ran a finger over his triangle tattoo.

"Why did you do it?" she choked.

"Why would you sacrifice yourself like that?"

Axel chuckled weakly and placed his hands over hers.

"I told you, didn't I?" he said.

"I already lost Roxas and Ankoku. There was no way that I could ever lost you"

He gave her a soft smile.

"While I felt like I had a heart when I was with them, with you I actually had a heart" he said.

"I was able to feel things that I once felt a long time ago. I was able to smile without faking it. I was able to laugh without trying to"

He ran his fingers over her moon pendant.

"And…I was able to finally have the ability to save that I love you"

Tsukiko choked as she heard that. she never Axel loved her, even when he never said it. Just his actions alone proved it. But to hear him actually say those three words made her heart melt.

She gave him a watery smile as she pressed her forehead against his.

"I love you too" she whispered.

"I always will"

Axel closed his eyes and basked in this moment. He didn't realize it, but a tear slipped from his eyes and ran down his face.

The two nobodies looked at each other for a moment, before giving each other one last kiss. This would be the last time that they would be lovers, so they wanted to make this moment special.

Tsukiko could feel her body warming up as Axel's fire coursed through her veins. He seemed to be putting his all in this kiss.

When they broke the kiss, they gripped each other's hands tightly.

"You'll protect them, right?" Axel asked.

"They're all we have left"

Tsukiko closed her eyes when she felt more tears coming. She managed to nod her head.

"With my life" she said.

"I won't let Xemnas or Saix lay a finger on them"

Axel smiled weakly.

"Good" he said.

He used the last of his energy to create a portal that would lead to the Organization's headquarters'.

"Kairi's in the castle dungeons" he said.

"Now go"

His hand fell limply at his side.

Tsukiko held Axel close as the rest of his body faded away.

"I love you, Axel. I always will" she whispered.

Axel smiled weakly before closing his eyes.

The rest of his body faded back to the darkness. Tsukiko looked at where his body once was. She would no longer see his tender smile. She would never hear his velvety voice. She would never be held in those warm, strong arms ever again.

She cried into her hands when she realized that her lover was really gone for good.

"Axel!" she cried.

She was really alone now. Roxas was gone. Ankoku was gone. And now even Axel. They were all gone.

She jumped when she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder.

She looked up so see Hikari sitting in front of her with a sad look in her eyes.

She gave the nobody a weak smile and wiped her tears from her face.

"It's going to be ok" she said.

"I know it's hard. After losing someone you love like that, it makes you want to give up and want to die. I know life with never be the same without him, but you can't give up. He gave his life just you could live on. He showed that he loved so much, that he was willing to fade back to the darkness. He gave you this chance so you could go out and fulfill your mission. If you want to be mad, then be mad. If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to scream at the top of your lungs, then do it. Just don't give up on living, because he'll never forgive you for that. If you can't live with the pain, then take it out on the ones who inflicted it upon you. Make them suffer the same way that you have"

Tsukiko couldn't help, but look at Hikari as she said that. instead of seeing her, she saw Ankoku sitting in front of her. It was as if she was telling her to not give up and to get revenge on the Organization.

"**Don't give up, Tsukiko"**

Tsukiko managed to nod.

She couldn't give up. Not now. Not when she was so close to finding Kairi. She had to do this. For herself and for Axel as well.

"They're going to pay" she managed to say.

Hikari smiled.

"That's the spirit"

She held her hand out to her.

"Then let's finish this…together"

Tsukiko looked at her hand for a moment, then at Hikari.

Without warning, she pulled the sorceress into a bone crushing hug and buried her face into the girl's hair. She didn't know why, but she just needed someone to support her. And since Hikari was offering it, she was going to take it.

Hikari just stood there and hugged Tsukiko while she cried.

"It's going to be ok" she said.

Tsukiko smiled weakly, knowing that what she said was true.

It was going to be ok, and she was going to make sure of it.

She was going to kill every last Organization member, even if it killed her, herself.

The group stayed like this for a while. True, they were in a hurry, but they wanted to give Tsukiko a few minutes. She may have been a nobody, but she was still their friend. And when a friend was hurting, they would be the ones who healed it.

As Tsukiko hugged Hikari, she could have sworn that she heard Axel's voice.

"_Tsukiko…don't be sad. No matter what happens, I'll always be with you. You're a part of me, just like I'm a part of you. Even though I didn't have a heart, the feeling I felt were always real. So that's why, no matter what happens to me, or what I become. I will, always, always love you"_

/

**A/N: I got a little teary eyed as I wrote this chapter. Poor Tsukiko, I feel for her. There's nothing more painful than living in a world without the one you love. But at least she still has Roxas and Ankoku in a sense. And even if Axel's gone, he still lives inside her.**

**And yes, Axel knew who Hikari was when she entered Castle Oblivion. The only reason why he never said anything was because he knew that she lost her memories and he felt that it was better this way.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**R.I.P Axel!**

**Ja ne!**


	43. You make a good other

Chapter 43: You make a good other

**A/N: I'm sure you're all feeling sad that Axel's gone. I know that I am. But hey, if you think about it, he's still alive through Tsukiko. As long as she loves him and thinks about him, then he'll never be gone.**

**I'm sure you're excited for this chapter because we get to see Ankoku again! Even if it's for a tiny bit, I'm always happy to see our favorite nobody.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone stepped through the portal when Tsukiko managed to calm down. It took them a while to get her to stop crying, but it was understandable. They were sure they would be acting the same way if they saw the one that they loved died in their hands.

Hikari stayed close to Tsukiko and held her hand as they entered The Castle that Never was.

They made it to an alley way where it was dark and gloomy.

Tsukiko sniffled and wiped her eyes, which were a little red from crying.

Sora looked at her and gave her a sad look. He felt bad for being mean to her earlier. He knew that it wasn't her fault that Kairi was kidnapped. He simply got caught in the moment and tried to blame it on her. But after seeing Axel vanish like that and how it affected her, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

"Are you going to be ok?" he asked.

Tsukiko looked at him, then looked at the ground.

"I don't know" she admitted.

"I just…can't believe he's gone. That I'll never see him again"

Tears pooled in her eyes as she choked up again.

"I'll have to go living with the fact that I'll never see him again or hear his voice. I'll have to walk around town, seeing places that we used to go to together. I'll have to go to the clock tower and know that he'll never come and watch the sunset with me. I'll have to see places that hold so many memories of him. How am I going to go on like that when it's going to do nothing but torture me?"

Hikari gave Tsukiko a sympathetic look, then looked at Sora. She had an idea, but she didn't know how he would react to it.

The keyblade master must have thought the same thing because he nodded, showing that it was ok.

Hikari squeezed Tsukiko's hand gently.

"Why don't you come back with us?" she asked.

Tsukiko paused from wiping her eyes and looked at her.

"Huh?" she said.

Hikari smiled.

"Come back to the islands with us" she said.

"Once this is all over, why don't you come with us to our world? You can start a new life there and create new memories with us? Why live in a place that will only cause you torture when you can go out and start over in a new one? You live with us. We'll keep you company and make sure you're never alone. What do you say?"

Tsukiko blinked in shock.

They wanted her to come back with them? They wanted her to stay on their world? This was too good to be true. Even though they didn't know her for very long, they were willing to let her come with them. They wanted her to be a part of their lives.

She couldn't help but see Roxas and Ankoku. It was as if they were telling her that it was going to be alright and that they would be with her if she went to the islands.

She managed to give them a watery smile and hugged them tightly.

"Thank you" she said.

Sora and Hikari hugged her in return.

"It's going to be ok, we promise" Sora said.

"We'll help you start a new life" Hikari added.

Tsukiko let them go and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Right" she said.

Just then, King Mickey cam running towards them.

"There you are" he said.

"You need to see this"

They ran from the alley and gasped at the sight that they saw.

There, off in the distance was Organization Xlll's stronghold. And there, hovering up in the sky was none other than Kingdom Hearts. The heart shaped moon gave off an ominous glow and it shined it's light over this dark and desolate world.

Tsukiko couldn't help but scowled at the sight.

"What a hideous moon" she spat.

And it was. Knowing that it was made for selfish reasons, it was hideous. But they were going to fix that real soon.

"Axel said Kairi's in the dungeon" she said.

"Then we better find a way to get to that castle" Mickey said.

He ran off ahead of them while the others followed.

/

Heartless were everywhere in this world. Every step they took, hundreds of them would come crawling out.

Everyone had their work cut out for them as they hacked them away. They weren't the really strong type of heartless, but their masses made up for that.

Hikari jumped away from a heartless when it tried to hit her with its claws.

She cast a thunder spell on them and zapped them into oblivion before using her other magic. She could already feel her heart starting to burn as the effects of her potion were starting to wear off. She would have to take more of it soon, but that would mean she would use the last of it. She didn't want to use it now, knowing that she would have to fight the Organization soon.

She would just have to deal with it as they got closer to the castle.

They kept running through the dark pathways that made the down of the nobody world. It was just as dark and creepy as End of the World, but it seemed more civilized here.

Tsukiko went all out on the heartless. Since she was in revenge mode at the moment, she slaughtered at anything that crawled and had yellow eyes.

Even though Axel gave up his life to save hers, she was going to make the Organization pay. It was their fault that Axel was gone. Since they took something precious from her, she was going to take something precious from them. And she was going to start off with that heart shaped moon of theirs.

/

It had started raining when they made it to Memory Sky Scrapper. Lighting flashed through the sky, making Kingdom Hearts glowing darkly.

As Hikari looked up at the sky scrapper, she couldn't help but feel like she had been here before.

"_That's odd" _she thought.

"_I've never been to this world before, so why would it feel like I have?"_

She and Sora started walking forward. They needed to rescue Kairi soon before it was too late.

Just then, the sound of a weapon being drawn alerted them.

"Sora! Hikari!"

The keyblade master's turned around and were horrified to see their friends being surrounded by nobodies.

"Donald! Goofy! Tsukiko!"

They rushed over to get rid of the nobodies, but were stopped when two portals opened up to have two Organization members step out. They had their hoods up, but just the sight of them was proof enough that they were the enemy.

They looked at the keyblade masters for a moment before summoning their own.

Hikari gasped in horror when she saw one of them summon a black keyblade.

"A keyblade?"

The nobody charged at her and clashed blades with her. When Hikari blocked her keyblade, she found herself and the nobody in some area where it was pitch black, save for the stain glass floor that they were standing on.

They both jumped back and faced each other. The nobody summoned up the Oblivion keyblade and charged at Hikari.

Hikari glared at the nobody as she tried to push the keyblades away.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The nobody just looked at her.

"Someone from the dark" a female voice said.

They both jumped back and faced each other.

Hikari studied the nobody for a moment. She could help but feel like she knew this nobody. It was as if she knew this person her whole life.

"You can't be…Riku?" she asked.

The nobody chuckled.

"Do I sound like a Riku to you?" she asked.

"However…I did meet a Riku once"

Hikari gasped at that. This nobody knew Riku?

"What?" she gasped.

"Tell me! Where is he?"

The nobody chuckled and shook her head.

"Sorry, can't tell you"

She gripped her keyblades and got into a fighting stance.

"Tell me…tell me why he picked you?"

The nobody dragged her keyblades across the ground, creating sparks before swinging them at Hikari. The sorceress blocked them and tried to swing at her. Every time she tried to make a hit, the nobody would dodge it. She would dodge them, even before she made the move.

It was almost as if she could see what her attacks were, before she even performed them.

They fought with each other for a few minutes before the nobody smacked her keyblade out of her hands and has it slid across the ground.

Hikari ran for it, but the nobody slammed her black keyblade down on it and aimed the Oblivion at her.

Hikari sighed in frustration. Obviously this nobody didn't know that there were many ways to summon a keyblade.

Stretching her hand out, she magically summoned her keyblade back into her hand.

The nobody looked at the keyblade in Hikari's hand, then at the ground, to see that it was indeed gone.

"What?"

When Hikari saw her distracted, she swung her keyblade down at the nobody.

Everything seemed to stop for a second. Nobody moved or said anything.

The nobody just stood still for a moment before dropping her keyblades and making them disappear.

She started walking away from Hikari, but stumbled a little as she passed by. Her hood fell down to reveal herself to be Ankoku.

Hikari gasped when she saw her, knowing that she was the girl from the photo.

Ankoku smirked slightly for a second then looked at Hikari.

"You really do make a good other" she said.

Hikari raised her eyebrow at that.

A good other?

Before she could ask what she meant, she was thrown out of this realm and was back at the sky scrapper.

She blinked her eyes when she felt the rain falling down on her face.

She looked up at Kingdom Hearts in thought. So many thoughts ran through her head. Like, what in the world just happened? And why did she see Ankoku.

But the one thing that confused her the most was what the nobody said.

"You make a good other" she muttered.

Sora was pretty much the same with his encounter with Roxas.

Donald, Goofy and Tsukiko walked up to them when it was safe.

"Are you okay?" Donald asked.

The keyblade master's looked at their friends.

"What…just happened?" Sora asked.

Goofy shrugged.

"Gawrsh, I dunno" he said.

"You both just disappeared" Tsukiko said.

"Then, Donald, Goofy and I had to fight those nobodies"

Hikari blinked a couple of times.

"Oh" she said.

Sora looked at Hikari.

"That person…he said…he defeated Riku…" he said.

Hikari gasped and covered her mouth.

Someone defeated Riku? That was just impossible. Riku was super strong and was very hard to beat. She was lucky that she was able to defeat him before because he gave into the darkness.

But now that she thought of it, Ankoku said that she met Riku. She never said where he was, but she didn't deny that she didn't know.

Could it have been that she knew what happened to Riku and didn't want to say anything.

She touched the spot where her pendant once stood and bit her lip.

She was getting so close to finding Riku. So close to holding him in her arms. So close to hearing his voice.

He just couldn't be gone.

"But nobody could defeat Riku" Donald said.

Hikari smiled weakly at that.

He was right. No one could defeat Riku.

"Y-yeah…you're right" she said.

Goofy scratched his head.

"A black coat means Organization Xlll" he said.

"They must've been trying to tick ya"

"Yeah, they always liked messing with their enemies heads" Tsukiko said.

"Now before they mess with our heads even more, let's go find that castle"

"Sounds good to me" Sora said.

They started walking some more where they figured would lead them closer to the castle.

As they were walking, Hikari stopped and looked at the sky scrapper.

The words that Ankoku said to her still rang through her head.

"_You make a good other"_

/

The castle hovered near the edge of town. Below it, stood a massive pit that seemed to lead to who knows where.

They stood near the edge when they found no other place to go.

"A dead end?" Tsukiko asked.

"There's gotta be a path somewhere" Mickey said.

Hikari ran a hand through her hair and looked up at the Castle.

"I wonder what it could be?"

/

Deep within the castle dungeons, Kairi was curled up near the corner of her cell. After Saix captured her, he sent her to this dark prison so they could keep a watchful eye on her.

It was pretty scary, but luckily she had Pluto to keep her safe.

She rubbed the dog's head when he whimpered.

"I know. I don't like this either" she said.

When Saix approached her cell, she glared at him and gripped the bars.

"What are you going to do to us?" she demanded.

The second in command gave her an emotionless stare.

"You're the fire that feeds Sora and Hikari's anger" he explained.

With that, he walked off to continue with his patrols.

Kairi hung her head in defeat.

"No…" she whimpered.

"Sora and Hikari are in danger because of me…"

Just then, a portal opened up within the cell, causing Pluto to bark.

Kairi jumped a little when she saw the portal. Last time she was one of these, Tsukiko came to rescue her, only to get herself captured again. She thought that the nobody probably came back to save her, but she was surprise to see Namine and Taiyouko standing within the portal.

Namine held her hand out to her while Taiyouko scanned the area.

"This way" Namine whispered.

Kairi gave them a suspicious look.

She never saw these people before, so she didn't know if she could trust them. But when she got a closer look at Taiyouko, she gasped. She remembered her from Hollow Bastion.

"You're…"

Taiyouko pressed a finger to her lips to shush her.

"Hurry" she urged.

Kairi gulped a little.

"Who-?"

"Believe in yourself" Namine said.

"c'mon, hurry!"

"Unless you want to stay in this creepy cell?" Taiyouko offered.

Kairi shook her head and slowly walked over to them. She looked at Namine's hand and slowly placed her within it.

As her hand made contact with the nobody's a bright light glowed between them. It was so powerful, that it could be seen from outside.

/

Everyone saw the light that emanated from the castle.

"What is that?" Donald asked.

Sora and Hikari were thinking the same thing. How could light come from a castle made from darkness.

Their keyblades appeared in their hands and tugged them towards the castle.

Taking the hint, they raised them and watched as light shot out from them and made a bridge that connected the city to the castle.

Sora lowered his keyblade and looked at the castle.

"Kairi…we're almost there"

Hikari gripped her keyblade tightly as she looked at the castle.

That's right. They were almost there.

They were almost there to find Kairi. They were almost there to defeat the Organization. They were almost there to find out the truth about Xemnas.

And most importantly…they were almost there to find Riku.

/

**A/N: I know this chapter was short, but I wanted to keep each section of this part of the game as separate chapters.**

**Next up, we get to see some serious fighting as everyone faces the sharp shooter of the Organization. **

**I wonder how they'll deal with Xigbar?**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	44. Sharpshooter

Chapter 44: Sharpshooter

**A/N: 400 reviews? Holy crap! That's amazing! I was happy with getting over 300 reviews. Thank you so much for loving my story enough to give me 400 reviews! **

**Well, we're one chapter away from seeing the sexy Riku. If you guys review a lot, we'll be able to see him real soon.**

**But for now, we'll just have to settle with Hikari fighting Xigbar. How will the group handle fighting the sharpshooter of the Organization? You'll just have to find out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Kairi and Namine frantically ran through the castle. Taiyouko trailed behind with her arrows drawn in case any nobodies tried to stop them. Since Kairi wasn't in her cell, the Organization would probably look for them.

"Hurry up, you two" she said.

"We'll get help just up ahead"

Kairi nodded and gripped Namine's hand tightly as they ran down a slope to a lower level of the castle.

They all kidded to a stop when a set of Berserker Nobodies blocked their path.

Saix stood in front of them with an indifferent look on his face.

"Namine…there you are" he said.

Taiyouko glared at him and aimed an arrow at his face.

"Get away, Isa" she hissed.

Saix glared when his old name was used.

He held his hand out towards Kairi, as if beckoning her towards him.

"Kairi. I'm afraid leaving is not an option" he said.

"I'll take you to Sora and Hikari"

Kairi glared at him and took a step back. There was no way that she would believe in this creep.

Saix raised an eyebrow.

"You don't want that?" he asked.

Kairi shook her head.

"I do" she admitted.

"More than anything. But not with you around"

She and Namine got into a fighting stance while Taiyouko notched an arrow into her bow.

Saix just scoffed.

"If I had a heart, this is where I would die with laughter" he said.

The sound of a blade slashing through something caused the second in command to turn around. He was surprised to see his nobodies being destroyed, but was even more surprised to see who did it.

Standing a few feet away from them was a man wearing an Organization coat, holding the Way to Dawn keyblade.

"You" Saix hissed.

"Didn't Roxas finish you off?"

Taiyouko smiled in relief, knowing that their helped arrived.

Namine smiled too and took a step back.

"You can take it from here…Riku"

Kairi gasped at that.

"Riku?"

She looked at the keyblade more closely and noticed that it looked at lot like Riku's Soul Eater.

'Riku' dismissed his keyblade and fire off a ball of dark energy at Saix.

The second in command jumped out of the way, but couldn't block Riku as he charged at him and slammed him into the wall.

Saix just gave him a cruel smirk and disappeared through a portal. Riku growled and went to go in after him, but was stopped when Taiyouko came up to him and dragged him away by his ear.

"Don't you even dare" she growled.

"I can't protect Kairi all by myself and I need your help. Besides…"

She looked at Kairi.

"I know you want to see one of your friends"

She let go of his ear and stepped back so Kairi could reunite with one of her lost friends.

Kairi slowly approached Riku. She couldn't believe that he was here. Now that she found him, maybe she could find Sora and Hikari next.

She smiled at him weakly and reached for his hood.

"Riku…you're really here…" she said.

She pulled his hood back and gasped when she didn't see his face, but rather 'Ansem'.

Riku looked away shamefully while Taiyouko gave his arm a gentle squeeze.

/

They group entered the entrance of the castle and looked around. They didn't see any Organization members, so that must have meant they weren't spotted yet.

Mickey took off yet again and left them behind.

"He really likes to leave us behind" Tsukiko said.

Sora and Hikari summoned up their keyblades and slowly walked forward.

"Let's go" Sora said.

"If we stay here any longer, they'll know we're here"

Everyone summoned their weapons as well and moved forward.

Hikari looked at the castle and couldn't help but feel like she had been here before. Just like with Memory Sky scrapper, she felt like she had been here all her life.

"_Either my mind is playing tricks on me, or I'm just downright tired" _she thought.

She pulled out her potion bottle and sadly looked at it. She was at the last of the magical elixir and she knew it. One more sip and she was done for. She wouldn't be able to stop the chest pains if she had to keep on fighting. But she figured it was better to take it now, than regret it later.

Gripping the bottle tightly, she pulled off the cap, and downed the rest of the magical drink.

Sora looked at her when she slammed the bottle down and let the glass shatter.

"Looks like I'm on my own from now on" she said.

Sora gripped her shoulder tightly and gave her a serious look.

"We'll make sure nothing happens to you" he said.

"We're all in this together, so we'll all protect each other"

Donald waved his staff.

"If you're feeling any pain, just let me know and I'll use my more powerful spells"

Hikari smiled weakly at her friends. She felt so lucky to have such wonderful friends who looked after her.

"Thanks, you guys" she said.

"And I'll make sure I'll protect you all too. I don't really know if Xemnas is my father anymore…but since he's connected to me in some way, I'll make sure I finish this. I won't let him get away with his plans"

Tsukiko smirked.

"That's the spirit" she said.

"Now let's go put that to use and kick some nobody ass!"

Everyone cheered and went into an elevator that brought them to the next floor.

While the first floor was void of all nobodies, this one was the complete opposite. Some of the most powerful nobodies were lurking at every corner, waiting to snatch their prey.

"Looks like we've got our work cut out" Goofy said.

Tsukiko propped her scythe on her shoulder and smirked.

"A little warm up never hurt" she said.

Sora and Hikari summoned their second keyblades and faced the nobodies.

"Get out of our way!" Hikari declared.

She faced a sorcerer nobody and couldn't help but laugh darkly at the irony. She could sense Xemnas' darkness radiating from it and knew that he had control over these kinds.

"_What a sick joke" _she thought as she dodged its magic blocks.

"_He makes a sorcerer nobody, knowing full well that the women in his life were sorceresses. Is this just a reminder of the pain he caused us by getting us twisted in this sick twisted plot of taking over the worlds?"_

She cut the nobody in half and looked at the hallway in front of her.

"_Because if it is, then that pisses me off"_

They ran down the hallway and entered the hall of empty melodies.

The place was more open and at least had some color to it besides silver. They looked around the area for any sight of Xemnas or anyone else from the Organization.

Saix appeared over the ledge to the upper floor and looked down at them.

"Sora, Hikari…you've done well" he said.

Everyone stopped to look up at him. Tsukiko growled, know that he was the one who killed Axel and gripped her scythe tightly.

Sora glared at the nobody with hatred.

"Where's Kairi?" he demanded.

Saix shrugged.

"Who knows?" he admitted.

"I expect she's catching up with her friend from the darkness"

"What do you mean?" Hikari demanded.

Did that mean Riku was here? If he was here, then that meant her mother was too. She was going to see them again!

"She doesn't need you anymore" Saix smirked.

Sora smirked slyly.

"You expect us to believe that?" he asked.

Saix just shrugged.

"Well, you don't have to…" he said.

"But you can believe this. Organization Xlll has no further use for you…just look there"

He pointed up to the glass ceiling where Kingdom Hearts could be seen.

"Our Kingdom Hearts…thanks to the both of you, we've collected countless hearts…can you hear their euphoria?"

Hikari looked at the heart shaped moon with distaste.

"It's giving off a pretty bad melody" she spat.

Saix lowered his arm and gave them an emotionless stare.

"Is that so?" he asked.

"In that case, we'll need one more helping from the keyblade bearers to fix the tune"

He snapped his fingers and had heartless pour into the castle. Everyone backed up when they came oozing out of the walls and crawled from the floor. There were so many of them that they had nowhere to run.

"We gotta fight!" Donald cried.

Sora looked at him.

"But-Kingdom Hearts!"

If they destroyed the heartless, then they would just help Kingdom Hearts grow stronger and help Xemnas with his plans.

"It's either we destroy their hearts, or they destroy ours" Tsukiko said plainly.

"Take your pick"

"Sora! Hikari!"

The keyblade masters looked up to see Kairi peering from the level above.

Smiles grew on their faces when they saw she was alright and that she managed to get away.

"It's really you!" Kairi cried.

"Kairi!" Sora and Hikari cried in unison.

Their happy reunion was short lived when a bunch of heartless pinned them down to the ground.

Kairi gasped and glared at the wretched monsters.

"You leave them alone!" she ordered.

She took a step back and jumped over the ledge to get to the level below. She was still above them, but that wasn't going to stop her.

She went to jump over the ledge again, but heartless jumped at her and pinned her to the ground as well.

She tried crawling away from them, but it was no use.

"Sora, Hikari-"

Fortunately, she was saved by Riku and Taiyouko.

Riku destroyed the heartless while Taiyouko picked her up.

"You shouldn't be rushing into things like that" she scolded.

"Especially when you don't have a weapon"

Riku summoned the Destiny's Embrace keyblade.

"Take it" he said in Ansem's voice.

Kairi took the keyblade and examined it.

"This time, _I'll _fight" she declared.

She got into a fighting stance and faced the heartless.

"You know Sora and Hikari are completely useless without us" she joked.

She ran forward and swung her keyblade at a few heartless.

"Quite the spitfire, isn't she?" Taiyouko joked.

She looked at Riku to see him staring at Hikari. He looked so torn as he saw her struggling to get away from the heartless. She knew that he wanted nothing more than to rush over and save her. But he couldn't when looked like the heartless of Xemnas. He couldn't scare her anymore than she was now.

Taiyouko gripped his shoulder and gave him a gentle smile.

"It looks like your princess is in need of her knight" she said.

"Why don't you get rid of that sad, torn look and be the knight in shining armor that you are"

She nudged his shoulder with a sly smirk on her face.

"If you want, we can have a contest to see who can get rid of the most heartless" she joked.

"The first person to get rid of the most heartless gets to see Hikari first"

Riku couldn't help but smirk a little and shake his head.

"You're on" he said.

They both summoned their weapons and ran at the heartless before Kairi could hurt herself.

Saix watched as Hikari and her friends tried to get away from the heartless, when he sensed another presence.

It appeared that Maleficent survived the attack at Hollow Bastion and was now barging into Xemnas' castle with Pete in tow.

"Well, well. Will the intrusions never end?" he asked before disappearing.

The evil sorceress smiled darkly as she viewed the castle. It was much more magnificent than the one at Hollow Bastion. Not to mention larger too.

"Why, Pete…this castle is perfect" she said.

"Perhaps we should…acquire it"

The giant cat gulped when he saw all of the heartless. He knew that Maleficent had no control over them here in the realm of darkness so he was in full panic mode.

"Well, the setup is…kinda nice, I guess, but…what about all the heartless?" he asked.

"This in-between world-it's way too close to the darkness! They ain't gonna listen to us here"

Maleficent smirked darkly and looked at the scene below.

"Once again, you underestimate me"

/

Meanwhile, while all of this was happening, King Mickey ran through the outer parts of the castle and tried to head towards the top. He had to stop Xemnas before it was too late.

Sora and Hikari had done do much to end this battle, now it was his turn to pitch in.

He'd strike his keyblade at every heartless and nobody that came across his path. He didn't have time to dilly-dally and he wasn't going to let these creatures stop him.

As he reached the next level, he saw a bunch of nobodies surround Diz. The mysterious man was on the ground and had a death grip on the device that he was carrying.

Mickey rushed to his aid and finished the nobodies before helping Diz up.

Diz staggered a bit as he stood, but didn't let it bother him. He slowly undid the bandages that covered his face and revealed himself to be none other than Ansem the Wise; Hikari's grandfather.

The former leader of Radiant Garden looked at his long time friend.

"It's been far too long, my friend" he said.

Mickey gave him a stern look.

He was beyond happy to see his old friend. But he was furious that Ansem let all of this happen without telling him.

How could he let his daughter and granddaughter get caught up in all this? It was unfair.

"Ansem the Wise" he ordered sternly.

"Why didn't you come to me before things got so bad?"

Ansem the Wise sighed sadly, knowing that he deserved the lecture. It was his fault that all of this happened.

"Xemnas, the Organization's superior, is the nobody of Xehanort, my foremost apprentice" he began.

"The burden was mine to bear"

Mickey raised an angry eyebrow.

"Is that all?" he asked.

Ansem the Wise shook his head and looked up at Kingdom Hearts sadly.

"I won't deny there was more" he admitted.

"I was…obsessed with thoughts of revenge. My apprentices stole everything precious to me-my research, my pride, and even worse, my family"

He swallowed harshly, knowing that he was the one who let Xehanort bewitch his daughter and plunging her life along with Hikari's in turmoil. He had failed as a parent and this was his punishment. Had he been a better father to Taiyouko, then none of this would have happened.

Mickey looked at him sadly, knowing what he was thinking.

He didn't just want revenge for having everything taken from him. He wanted revenge as a father and wanted to destroy the man who ruined his daughter's life.

"I can't help you with revenge" he said sadly.

Ansem the Wise nodded sadly.

"I know" he said.

"Riku's told me a thousand times…and Taiyouko won't have any part of it"

Mickey looked around for the two of them. He was expecting them to be with Ansem.

"Where are they?" he asked.

Ansem the Wise smiled weakly.

"They must be with my granddaughter by now" he said.

"They've been yearning to see her so much since she's woken up. I'm sure they're relieved to see her"

He looked up at the sky.

"They were a great help to me" he said.

"I was happy that my daughter actually wanted to help me for once, but I think she only did it because it involved her daughter, otherwise she would never want anything to do with me. And Riku was extraordinary. I found him wandering the darkness, after you and he lost track of each other"

Mickey rubbed his head.

"Gosh, we didn't lose each exactly. Riku left…well, 'cause Xehanort's heartless was still inside his heart, troubling him. And Taiyouko went with him so she could protect him and comfort him while he was suffering"

Ansem the Wise smirked.

"She always did have that motherly charm, even after her mother passed away" he admitted.

Mickey rubbed his head in thought.

"But what I don't understand is why he looks like that now, he's still Riku at heart…"

Ansem the Wise closed his eyes sadly.

"I am to blame" he said.

"When I met Riku the first time he still had the appearance of a boy. Probably because he had such a strong heart. I asked him to find two you nobodies name Roxas and Ankoku from Organization Xlll, and bring them to me. When I told him it would help Sora and Hikari awaken from their slumber, Riku left without a word. Ankoku came to me willingly but Roxas was reluctant. Riku fought Roxas and I can only assume Riku lost that fight. He must have realized then: to fight in the realm of darkness, he would have to immerse himself in that same darkness. And when he did…you saw what became of him"

He smiled weakly.

"It amazed me how far he was willing to go for my granddaughter" he said.

"I've never seen a boy so in love that he would willingly change his appearance just so he could pick up the missing pieces to Hikari's memory. He loves her, even knowing that she's a sorceress and is considered an abomination to the worlds"

Mickey tensed up when he thought his friend was talking as if Hikari and Taiyouko were monsters.

"But they're not!" he said.

"You and I have seen that there are a lot of sorceresses who do go for the worlds. Hikari is one of them"

Ansem the Wise nodded.

He still felt horrible for degrading his daughter by saying no one could ever love a sorceress.

"Of course. Riku has made it clear to me that he loves Hikari, regardless of her heritage. I've never seen anyone be so in love or defensive about a sorceress since…Hikari's real father"

Mickey raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what he meant, but Ansem cut him off.

"But that isn't important" he said.

"When Riku brought Roxas back to me, he was introducing himself as…Ansem. If that was what it took to awaken his friend and the one he loved most, he was ready to live in darkness. Riku was the victim of my revenge. How my heart ached. I could only laugh, to hide my shame"

Mickey looked at his friend sadly.

"I guess it musta been after that when I saw Riku again" he said.

"He said he wanted to help Sora and Hikari…but he made me promise-promise that they would never find out about what happened to him while he was out in the darkness"

He remembered how he pleaded that he wouldn't tell Hikari, knowing how upset she would be if she knew what happened to him.

"_She would only blame herself and feel like it was her fault that she wasn't there to help me" _he said.

Ansem the Wise looked down at his friend.

"My friend, the time has come" he said.

"I must make amends to these young people and to my family"

He went over to the device that he brought with and picked it up.

Mickey walked along side him as they went further into the castle.

The time had come to finish this battle.

/

Back inside the castle, the group tried fighting off the heartless that kept pouncing on them.

"Get your disgusting little claws off me!" Hikari barked

Sora tried crawling out of the mash, but he just kept getting pulled back. Donald and Goofy screamed in fear as they were overcome by them. Tsukiko tried swinging her scythe at them, but couldn't get a good aim at them and was just hitting air.

Sora managed to finally get them off of him and helped Hikari up as well.

They looked up and saw that Kairi was fighting the heartless along with Riku, although they didn't know it was really him.

"What's going on?" Hikari asked.

They were caught up with what was going on upstairs that they didn't even notice an arrow gun was pointed at them.

The person pulled the trigger and fried off a bullet, causing it to impale itself to the ground. That caught everyone's attention and made them look up in time to see a shower of glowing bullets rain down on them. Everyone braced themselves for an attack, but they were surprised to see that they were aimed at the heartless and caused them to disappear.

Everyone quickly looked around for the shooter. Just because they were saved from the heartless didn't mean that this person was a good guy.

"Have you been good little children?" An all familiar voice taunted.

Sora looked up at the upper level that Saix once was and glared at it.

"Show yourself!" he demanded.

Laughter echoed throughout the room.

A portal opened out and had Xigbar walking out of it.

"It sounds like you haven't" he said.

Hikari glared at the nobody with hatred.

"Briag" she hissed.

Xigbar just laughed at the sight.

"Aw, you look just like your mom when she's angry" he taunted.

Hikari went to lunge at him, but Sora and Tsukiko held her back.

The Organization's sharpshooter placed his hands on his hips.

"Roxas! Ankoku!" he called out.

Sora and Hikari gave each other a confused look.

"Did he just call us Roxas and Ankoku?" Sora asked.

Hikari nodded.

Tsukiko bit her lip, knowing that she couldn't say anything about it; otherwise she would give everything away.

Xigbar gave them a steady glare.

"You've really put Organization Xlll in a pickle" he said.

"I guess that must be why the keyblades chose you. But, MAN did it pick a couple duds this time. You don't look you're half the heroes like the others were"

"Are you done rambling?" Hikari snapped.

Xigbar snorted, remembering Ankoku always snapping like that.

"Rambling? As if" he said.

"All I'm trying to tell you, traitors, is that your time is up!"

He summoned up his arrow guns and loaded them up.

"Here he comes!" Goofy cried.

Xigbar jumped off the ledge and landed in front of them. He had an evil smile on his face and he aimed his arrow guns at them.

"Got you now!"

He fired off a few round, causing them to disperse and run off. They didn't know what would happen if they got hit by any of those bullets, but they weren't going to stand around and let it happen.

Tsukiko covered Donald and Goofy since they needed back up while Sora and Hikari deflected the bullets.

Sora smacked a few back at Xigbar when the nobody fired of a few special bullets that seemed to track them. Hikari fired off her own version of bullets through her keyblade and had little arrows of light pierce the nobody.

Xigbar growled when he got hit and jumped up to the second level. He connected his arrow guns together to create a sniper. He peered through the eye scope and fired the trigger at them.

"Let's see you dodge this!"

Everyone ran away from the bullets as they showered down on them. A few of them managed to knick them here and there, but that didn't slow them down.

Sora managed to get lucky and zipped around the room deflecting bullets and had them smash the eye scope.

"Clever little sneak" Xigbar said as he unlocked his arrow guns. He jumped back to the first floor, but instead of landing on the ground, he was upside down in the air.

Tsukiko deflected the bullets aimed at them with her scythe before she swung it at his head.

Xigbar ducked and waved a finger at her.

"Now that's not lady like" he said.

"Little girls shouldn't be playing with such big toys"

Tsukiko growled and flung her scythe at the nobody and caused him to fall.

"And big boys shouldn't play with such little guns" she said.

Sora and Hikari dashed into the scene and performed a blitz move together. Hikari managed to kick on of Xigbar's guns out of his hand and used it on him.

She summoned up a rope made of light grabbed onto it as she swung around and fired off the gun.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu as she performed such a bizarre technique.

"_Where have I seen this move before?" _she thought.

"_Or better yet HOW do I know this move?"_

It didn't really matter because it did the trick.

Xigbar aimed his arrow gun at them with a shaky arm. That last attack really did a number on him. He didn't expect that such a little brat could pull such a move. But then again, she was Ankoku's other half, so it was to be expected.

He fell to his knees when he knew that he couldn't go on any longer. He had reached his limits and now he was going to fade away.

Everyone glared at him. They were glad that he was going to die, even though they knew they shouldn't. If he was out of the picture, then that meant there was one less person in the Organization.

Hikari lowered her keyblade and took a step forward.

Before he disappeared, she wanted to know what he meant when he called her Ankoku.

"Why did you call Sora and I, Roxas and Ankoku?" she asked.

Xigbar chuckled and shook his head.

"Wouldn't you like to know"

With that, he faded back to nothingness.

"Hey! Come back!" Sora ordered.

"Forget it, he's long gone" Tsukiko said.

Donald pointed towards the level above them, where Kairi was.

"It's Kairi!"

They all looked up to see that she was still up there fighting the heartless.

Ansem the Wise and King Mickey reached the room and saw everything that was happening.

Mickey panicked when he saw Riku, Taiyouko and Kairi fighting the heartless.

"Uh-oh, they need our help"

He was about to run off, but Ansem stopped him.

"Sora, Riku and Hikari are together now" he said.

"We have no part to play here"

Mickey nodded in understanding and looked at Riku.

"I wonder if Riku will ever change back…" he said.

"It'll just break Hikari's heart if he stays like that"

"Riku chose that form so he could use the power of darkness" Ansem the Wise said.

"It won't be easy. I just hope Hikari can cope with that. But…knowing how she acts like her mother, I'm sure she will"

They walked off so they could continue on with their plan.

Sora looked determined as he saw Kairi fighting the heartless. He had finally found her and now he was going to see her face to face.

"Kairi, we're on our way!"

They quickly ran through the hallway and went to the next level.

They were finally getting close to their significant others.

/

**A/N: I know the fighting chapter sucked, but I was getting excited because we get to finally see Riku in the next one, so I hurried up (sorry Xigbar fans) **

**Hikari will finally see Riku again after a year of searching for him. But will it be a happy reunion? How will she react when he's looking like Xehanort's heartless? We'll just have to see how much she really loves him.**

**Also, does anyone know that special moved she pulled to finish off Xigbar? If you're a Final Fantasy fan, I'm sure you'll know who does this move. If not, you'll find out later.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	45. I finally found you

Chapter 45: I finally found you

**A/N: Alright everyone! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! Riku and Hikari finally reunite. After so many chapters and so many journeys, our lovers are finally together at last. **

**But will it be a happy reunion? You'll just have to find out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Even though Xemnas was one person short, it didn't stop him from continuing with his plans. Why, they flowing along even as he looked up at his Kingdom Hearts.

The hearts that Sora and Hikari released from their keyblades floated up to the massive moon and became a part of it.

The Organization leader smiled darkly as he saw it glow brightly.

"Yes…Kingdom Hearts" he said.

"Rejoice and feast on these hearts we offer. Shine your pale light in this empty realm. Share your with all nobodies!"

Saix appeared before him.

"Xemnas. Is Kingdom Hearts ready?" he asked.

Xemnas nodded.

"Very soon" he said.

The side of Saix's lips twitched slightly.

"Then, I can end this charade?"

Xemnas turned to him and nodded.

"Indeed"

Saix looked as if he had won the lottery with the evil smirk that appeared on his face. Now he could finally get his revenge on Ankoku, even if she was Hikari now.

"How I've waited to hear that"

/

Everyone made it up to where Kairi was on the second floor.

They checked the area to make sure it was safe before they could relax.

Hikari couldn't help herself and quickly ran to her best friend. She pulled her into a tight hug and smiled brightly.

"Thank god you're alright" she said.

"I was so worried something happened to you!"

Kairi hugged her with equal force. She really missed her best friend and was glad that nothing happened to her from her journey. They were pretty much like sisters anyway since they both lived together at the Mayor's house.

"I'm so glad you're ok too" she said.

"I'm glad Sora protected you"

Hikari let go of her and chuckled.

"Actually, it was I who did all the protecting" she said.

"He just got in the way"

"Hey!" Sora snapped.

Hikari just laughed, but stopped when she saw her mother. She didn't realize that she was here since she couldn't see her from the first floor. But now that she did, she could stop the tears that pooled in her eyes.

She was finally able to see her mother after being separated for over a year. She didn't have to look through her old memories to see her face, she could see it right here.

"Mother?" she choked out.

Taiyouko had tears of her own as she looked at her daughter. She couldn't believe how much she had grown since she last saw her. She started to turn into a beautiful lady.

"Hikari!" she cried.

That did it for Hikari. She simply ran to her mother's open arms as tears ran down her face.

"Mother!"

She hugged her mother tightly as her buried her face in her white dress. She could smell the perfume that she put on and couldn't help but feel relaxed. She was finally back with her mother, after being separated for so long.

There were so many things that she wanted to ask her, like what was wrong with her heart and if Xemnas was really her father. She had planned to chew her out for keeping this from her, but for right now, she just wanted to be hugged by her mom.

Taiyouko had tears running down her face as she held her daughter. After having to spent the past year watching her sleep she wanted to bask this moment in.

If there was one thing you don't want to get in the way with it's with a mother and her child.

As Hikari was hugging her mother, she spotted Xehanort's heartless standing off a way.

She couldn't help but cling to her mother slightly in fear. Even though she felt so much anger and hatred to Xehanort's nobody, she felt absolute fear over his heartless.

He was the one who took over Riku's body and nearly killed her. She would never forget those images as long as she lived.

She was surprised to see his heartless looking away in shame. It was as if he were sad that he was in her presence.

That totally threw her off. Last time she saw him, he wanted to kill her and offer her heart up on a silver platter to Kingdom Hearts. Now, he was acting like a shy little boy.

She didn't notice the stern look that Taiyouko was giving him, as if saying if he left, he was going to pay.

Tsukiko smiled weakly at Kairi. She was relieved that she was finally alright and that nothing happened to her.

Kairi spotted her and looked surprised.

"Hey, you're the one who tried to help me get out of the castle before" she said.

Tsukiko put on a forced smile for her. She didn't know how she was going to react since she knew that Axel was her boyfriend and that she was the one who got her stuck in this mess(even though she didn't mean it).

"Y-yeah. It's me" she said.

She rubbed her head and looked at the floor.

"Listen, I don't know if you'll hear me out. But I really want to apol-"

She was cut off when Kairi ran to her and pulled her into a hug.

Everyone was surprised by the reaction and were even more surprised when she gave Tsukiko a gentle smile.

"Thank you for trying to save me" she said.

Tsukiko was at a loss of words. She had expected her to yell at her and tell her to go away. And yet here she was, hugging her and thanking her for failing at rescuing her.

She couldn't help but sob a little at this princess's kind heart.

She pulled Kairi into a hug as well and apologized for everything that happened to her.

Kairi forgave her and let her go so she could collect herself.

Sora simply stared at Kairi. He couldn't believe that she was really here and that she was alright. She changed so much since he last saw her that it amazed him.

It even amazed Donald and Goofy because they had their mouths hanging open.

"Kairi! You were great!" Donald said.

Kairi blushed a little and smiled.

She and Sora slowly walked up to each other and started each other in the eyes.

"You are different, Kairi" Sora admitted.

"But I'm just glad you're here!"

Kairi smiled softly at him.

"You, Riku and Hikari never came home" she said.

"So I came looking for you"

Sora looked away shamefully.

"I'm sorry"

Kairi ran up to him and hugged him tightly. She buried her face into his shirt and took in his scent.

"This is real" she whispered.

Sora gave her a soft look and hugged her as well.

Hikari smiled softly at the scene. She was happy that Sora was finally reunited with his sweetheart. After worrying about her through their journeys, she was safe in his arms.

A frown came to her face as she thought that. They may have found Kairi, but Riku was still missing. She wondered why he wasn't here with her mom since he carried her pendant.

She sadly looked at the ground as she felt her heart ache.

"_Riku…where are you?" _

Xehanort's heartless opened up a portal. He figured that since Kairi was back with Sora, he wasn't needed here. Everyone was safe and they wouldn't need him.

He thought he would be able to go undetected, but of course Sora and Taiyouko spotted him.

"Freeze!" Taiyouko snapped.

Xehanort's heartless cringed, knowing that he couldn't leave when she used that tone with him. He would be a dead man walking if he did.

Hikari subconsciously leaned into her mother's arms while Sora took a step towards him.

"Ansem! I mean-Xehanort's heartless" he said.

"I never thought for a second that I'd ever see YOU again. Just thinking about all the things that you did makes me really mad. But…"

He smiled softly.

"But you saved Kairi and Hikari's mom. I have to be grateful for that…thanks"

Xehanort's heartless gave them a slight nod and started walking off again.

This time Kairi was the one who stopped him and gripped onto his sleeve desperately.

"Riku! Don't go!" she pleaded.

Hikari's heart stopped when she heard this.

Riku? Did she just say Riku?

Either her hearing was off, or she was really tired.

She stepped away from Taiyouko and looked at Kairi. She could feel herself shaking as she gripped her shirt.

"Kairi…what did you just say?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Kairi looked at them with a soft look to her eyes.

"Riku" she repeated.

Xehanort's heartless pulled away slightly.

"I'm no one-just a castaway from the darkness" he said.

Taiyouko went up to him and gave him a stern look.

"Don't you go acting chicken on me, young man" she whispered harshly so the others wouldn't hear.

"She's right there, so go to her"

Xehanort's heartless shook his head sadly.

"I can't"

Taiyouko rolled her eyes and looked at Kairi.

"You try to knock some sense into him" she said.

Kairi nodded and looked at Sora and Hikari.

"Hikari. Sora, come here. Say something to him" she pleaded.

Hikari didn't know why, but she felt her body moving on its own. Even though her mind was telling her to stay away, her heart was telling her that it was alright and that she should go to him.

The keyblade master's went to Kairi and let her take their hands and place it over Xehanort's.

"Here. You'll understand" she said.

"Close your eyes"

Hikari looked up at the heartless that used to be her supposed father, then at her hands. She trusted her hearts instincts and closed her eyes.

She saw nothing but darkness when she closed them. But that was to be expected since that normally happened when one closed their eyes.

But what she saw next made her heart dropped.

There standing in Xehanort's place was none other than Riku!

She could recognize him anywhere.

The slightly tan skin, the long silver hair, that tender smile. And most of all his eyes. Staring right back at her were the aquatic blue eyes that made her melt whenever she saw them. The most breathe taking eyes she had ever seen on a human being.

It was all too real for her.

Riku was really here and she saw standing right in front of her.

Her eyes flew open when she looked at 'Xehanort' and realized it was really Riku behind that disguise.

Her hands flew to her mouth as she felt tears brimming into her eyes.

He was really here! He was really standing in front of her!

She had finally found him!

Sora was choked up as well and fell to his knees.

"Riku!" he choked out.

"It's Riku. Riku's here"

He had tears of his own, knowing that his best friend was still alive.

"We looked for you"

Riku looked at his best friend falling apart.

"C'mon, Sora. You've got to pull it together" he said in his voice.

Hearing his beautiful voice caused the tears to spill from Hikari's eyes.

She had waited so long to hear that. It was still as majestic as ever. His voice had deepened a little, thanks to puberty, but it still sounded as beautiful as ever.

Sora looked up at his best friend.

"We looked everywhere for you!"

Riku looked at Hikari sadly, then at Sora.

"I didn't want you to find me" he admitted softly.

Sora looked at little hurt, but didn't say anything.

Goofy looked at Donald and Tsukiko.

"But it was him that was helping us, wasn't it?"

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Those clues we kept finding" he pointed out.

"That musta been Riku"

Riku looked at them.

"I was starting to worry that you would never catch on" he said.

"Sora and Hikari never did pick the brightest friends"

Donald stomped his foot.

"What do you mean by that?" he snapped.

"_And what does that make you?" _Tsukiko thought.

Riku sadly looked at Hikari to see her wiping her eyes. This was why he didn't want her to see him like this. He just couldn't stand the sight of her crying because of him. She had done enough of that.

"Hikari…" he said.

Hikari looked up at him and bolted into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his chest while Riku immediately held her as well.

Hikari cried into his chest while he held onto her tightly. She could feel him running a hand through her hair as he hugged her like she was his life line.

She couldn't believe that he was actually here. After searching high and low for him, she finally found him.

She was a little confused why he looked like Xehanort's heartless, but that didn't matter to him. She was with the man she loved most. It didn't matter what he looked like. As long as she knew it was him, that's all that mattered.

Riku could feel tears pooling up in his eyes as well.

After a whole year of watching her sleep, he was finally able to hold her in his arms. He wished that he was in his regular body for his, but he didn't care. He had his princess in his arms and that's all he wanted. He'd gone through so much just to see her again and hear her voice.

His kiss the top of her head when he heard her crying in his chest.

"Please don't cry, Hikari" he pleaded softly.

Hikari pulled away so she could look at him.

"Why didn't you let me know you were ok?" she choked out.

"Why didn't you let me know it was you?"

Riku looked away shamefully and stepped away.

"I told you. I didn't want to be found" he said.

He looked at his hand shamefully.

"Not like this…I couldn't. I fought with Ansem-with Xehanort's heartless. When it invaded my heart, and I won "

Memories of his battle in Castle Oblivion flashed through his head. How he struggled so hard to become the victor of the battle.

He had won valiantly, but his appearance were the end results.

"But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself"

Taiyouko gave his arm a slight squeeze before she looked at Hikari.

"He went through a lot just so you could wake up" she said.

"He said he didn't care what happened to him. As long as he saw you open your eyes, he said that would be enough for him"

Hikari could see Riku fighting so hard while she was asleep. How he nearly risked his life just so she would wake up. He even went so far as to change his appearance for her. That's how much he loved her.

It touched her that he thought so highly of her. She would have done the same for him, but to see him do that for her just made her tear up, knowing that he truly, deeply loved her.

Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing as they looked at Riku.

He sacrificed everything for the woman he loved most.

"Does that mean…you can't change back?" Kairi asked.

It would have been horrible if Riku had to stay stuck in this body for the rest of his life.

Not to mention weird. How would they explain to everyone that the scary looking man that was hanging around Hikari was actually Riku.

"This battle isn't over" Riku said.

"And until it is, I still need the power of darkness"

Sora gave him a determined look.

"Then, let's settle it" he said.

"You're still Riku, no matter what"

Hikari gave him an encouraging smile as she hugged him.

Sora looked at Donald, Goofy and Tsukiko.

"So how 'bout it?" he asked.

"Think we can handle one last ruble together? The king is waiting!"

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Donald cheered.

Tsukiko smirked.

"I'm in. But I think we can go for a tiny break" she said.

She pointed towards Hikari and Riku, who were hugging each other.

"I think they've been a part for long enough" Taiyouko said.

"Let's give them a moment. I'm sure they need it"

They walked off a little to go rest up while the two lovers basked in their reunion.

/

Hikari sighed contently as Riku ran his hand through her hair.

Everything seemed right to her for once. She finally found the man that she loved after searching through countless worlds. It didn't matter to her that he looked a little different now. He did this for her because he loved her so much. Only a fool would leave someone like that.

She closed her eyes as she buried her face in his chest. She felt so safe and secured. It was as if his arms acted like a shield to the world around them.

She smiled a little when she felt his lips on her forehead.

Riku gave her a light kiss before pressing his forehead against hers.

"I missed you so much" he said.

Hikari smiled up to him and kissed him on the lips. Had they not know it was really Riku, it would have seemed weird. But since they knew it was him, then it was alright.

"I missed you too" she said.

"I've been looking everywhere for you"

Riku looked away sadly.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"I just didn't want you to see me like this. Not after this face has caused you so much trouble"

Hikari held him tightly.

"The heart caused me trouble. Not the face" she said.

"If you had told me what happened, I wouldn't have been afraid. You did so much for me and sacrificed so much, how could I be afraid of you? Besides, people do crazy things when they're in love. I would know all about that"

Riku buried his face into her hair, taking in her scent. He never realized how much he missed that scent until just then. After being separated from her for so long, he couldn't help but feel greedy and hold her tightly to himself.

"I was starting to worry that I would never see you again" he said.

Hikari looked up to him and cupped his face in her hand.

"I'm right here, aren't I?" she replied.

"And if you don't believe me, I'm sure you can find ways to be proven wrong"

Riku smirked a little and bent down to kiss her. Even though he wished that he was in his regular body while doing this, he just couldn't help himself.

His lover was back in his arms and he wanted to show her how much she meant to him.

Hikari kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn't see Xehanort's face when she kissed him. She was seeing Riku.

The two lovers held onto each other tightly as they basked in their reunion. After being separated for so long, they were finally together again.

One thing that they thought of while they were kissing was something that they could finally say. And after so long, it felt so good to hear it.

_I finally found you._

/

**A/N: Yay! They're finally together. I got a little emotional writing this chapter. I just felt so happy for Hikari now that she's finally with Riku again. But it's not over yet. They still need to take down the Organization and get Riku back in his original body. **

**And for those of you hoping that she would beat him for keeping everything from her, don't worry, she'll do that soon. She's just too happy to be with her lover after so long to be mad at him.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	46. Gambler of Fate

Chapter 46: Gambler of Fate

**A/N: Riku and Hikari are finally reunited! But don't get too happy yet. The story isn't over and we still have to see if Xemnas is really Hikari's father or not. **

**So for now, we'll just have to settle with a few fights. I really don't know how this fighting chapter is going to turn out since it was a little different than the others in the game. Please bear with me though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my OC's.**

**Enjoy! **

**And I hope you had a Happy Easter!**

/

Up at the higher level of the castle, Ansem the Wise and King Mickey stopped near a ledge that had a clear view of Kingdom Hearts.

"This spot should do" Ansem said.

He set the device that he carried down and set it up so it was pointing towards Kingdom Hearts.

Mickey watched as he typed something into the panel.

"What's this gadget for?" he asked.

Ansem looked up from typing at the device.

"It's a device to reclaim Kingdom Hearts and encode it as data" he explained.

Mickey's eyes widen slightly.

Turn Kingdom Hearts into data? Now that was something. It was too good to be true.

"I'm not sure I get it" he said.

Ansem smiled, knowing that his companion was always clueless with technology.

"I do not claim to know the outcome of this venture, either" he admitted.

"After all…hearts are unpredictable"

He pushed the final button on the device and was rewarded with a beam of light shooting out of it and hitting Kingdom Hearts.

Ansem held the device steady as it started to shake. This just proved how powerful Kingdom Hearts really was.

Mickey watched his comrade nervously before looking back up at Kingdom Hearts.

This was going to be interesting.

/

Hikari was on cloud 9 as she walked through the castle.

She was finally reunited with her mother and Riku. After searching through countless worlds, she finally found them.

Sure, Riku looked like Xehanort's heartless at the moment, but she didn't care. As long as she knew it was him, then that was enough for her.

She smiled brightly as she held her hand tightly within his. Even though there weren't any nobodies at the moment, he was being so protective of her. He was acting like the knight that he really was. It really touched her heart that he was looking out for her.

As they went up to the next level, they came across a room that had all of these tombstone like structures sticking out of the ground. They each held a symbol that represented as some sort of weapon and had a title underneath them.

"What is this place?" Kairi asked.

Everyone looked around to see that the tombs had cracks in them as if they were smashed. Some of the tombs had weapons that Sora and Hikari recognized. Like Xigbars arrow guns and Xaldin's lances.

"This place is like a graveyard" Sora said.

"Do you think that these represent members of Organization Xlll?" Goofy asked.

Taiyouko nodded.

"Xemnas must have built this as a reminder of those who served under him" she said.

She laughed bitterly.

"How 'kind' of him to do that"

Hikari remembered that she wanted to ask her mother about Xemnas and if he was her father. But seeing the look on her face told her that now was not the best time.

She simply stayed close to Riku and walked around with him as they examined this place. There had to be a way that lead to the upper floor, otherwise they wouldn't have wound up here.

"This place is so creepy" she said.

"It's like a nobody graveyard. I wonder what Xemnas does to his subordinates when they fail him? "

Riku squeezed her hand slightly in reassurance.

"He won't touch you, I promise" he said.

"As long as I'm here, he won't lay a finger on you"

Hikari smiled at him and hugged him tightly.

Leave it to Riku to ease her fears.

Kairi looked at the tombs and stopped when she saw Tsukiko. The poor nobody was standing in front of the tomb that held the Chakram Symbol on it and had the title _Flurry of Dancing Flames _underneath it.

It was Axel's tomb.

Tears ran down Tsukiko's face as she thought about her lost lover. Images of him fading away in her arms kept replaying in her head.

She thought that she would be strong when she came here, but it seemed that she couldn't. How could she when her only source of living was gone?

He died protecting her because she couldn't defend herself.

What kind of girlfriend was she?

Taiyouko slowly approached her and places her hands on her shoulders.

"I was wondering why Lea wasn't with you when I saw you" she said.

"But now I see why"

Tsukiko broke into tears as she hugged her other half. If felt weird hugging her somebody, but right now, she didn't care. She needed someone to comfort her and Taiyouko was all she had right now.

"He saved us" she choked out.

"S-Saix sent a horde of nobodies at us when we were trying to cross through the realm of darkness. Axel gave up his life in order to save us. He died because I was too weak!"

Taiyouko rubbed her nobody's back when she cried on her shoulder.

Her heart simply shattered when she heard that. She had hoped that her nobody would be able to live out her life with the one she loved most, but of course Xemnas and his lackeys.

"_How many lives are you going to destroy before you reach your goal Xehanort?" _she thought.

"_You've already ruined mine. Isn't that enough?"_

Hikari sadly looked at Tsukiko. She couldn't help, but put herself in her shoes. If Riku had died because of her, she would never forgive herself. To live in a world without the one you love was the most painful thing.

Riku wrapped his arms from behind Hikari and held her close. It seemed that he owed the fire nobody another debt. First he saved Sora and Hikari from Castle Oblivion and now he gave his life up for them. He would never forget this.

He hugged Hikari tightly and never let her go. He felt the same way as Hikari. If anything were to happen to her, he would never forgive himself. If she died trying to save him, it would just finish him. To have to live knowing that he killed his soul mate because he was weak would ruin him.

The two lovers hugged each other tightly as they basked in the thought of how lucky they were that their significant other was still alive and right here.

Tsukiko buried her face in Taiyouko's dress. She had cried so much that she couldn't produce anymore tears and just dried heaved.

"I wish I didn't have a heart" she sobbed.

"Then I wouldn't have to feel this aching pain"

Taiyouko just rubbed her back in a soothing manner.

She figured that she would say that. Since she was a nobody, she didn't know how to deal with these emotions.

"But if you didn't have a heart, then you wouldn't have felt love or be able to love Axel" she said.

"I know you don't want to feel these negative emotions but you have to feel them if you want to feel the positive emotions. That's just the way it is"

She wiped Tsukiko's tears away and gave her a weak smile.

"So instead of thinking about the bad emotions, try thinking about the good ones. Just remember the love you felt with Axel and the happiness it brought you with just being by him. If you do that, then you're sure to forget the bad memories"

Tsukiko sniffled a little and nodded her head.

"I'll try" she said.

Taiyouko smiled softly.

"That's my girl"

"Hey!" Donald called out.

He pointed towards one of the slabs that were still glowing.

"This one is still active" he said.

"Do you think it leads somewhere?" Sora asked.

"There's only one way to find out" Hikari said.

They bet against the odds and went through the portal, wondering where it would take them.

/

The portal ended up taking them to an outer part of the castle.

There, they saw the beam of light from Ansem's device hitting Kingdom Hearts.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's the King and Diz-I mean, Ansem the Wise" Riku said.

Hikari looked surprised.

"My grandfather is here?"

Taiyouko nodded bitterly.

"He should have stayed behind" she spat.

"He'll just get in the way"

Riku rolled his eyes and looked at her.

"You know as well as I do that this is much of his battle as it is ours" he said.

"I know you hate your dad, but you'll have to put it aside for now"

Taiyouko glared at him.

"Don't make me hit you again" she warned.

Riku sighed and didn't say anything else.

"Why do I even bother?" he muttered to himself.

"They must be up higher. We better hurry"

They started to head back to the portal when all of a sudden, Luxord suddenly appeared. The Gambler of Fate snapped his fingers and had a deck of cards circle around everyone except Sora and Hikari. The cards spun super fast and moved away to reveal everyone had disappeared.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

Sora glared at Luxord.

"You!" he hissed.

Luxord just gave them a cold grin.

"I'd rather we skip formalities" he said.

The keyblade masters summoned their keyblades and faced the nobody.

"The first to run out of time is the loser" Luxord said.

At the mention of time, something triggered in Hikari's head.

She could have sworn that she heard of someone who had control over time. But she just couldn't think of a name.

"_Where have I heard of someone who controls time?" _she thought.

She didn't have time to think because Luxord threw a few of his cards at her.

You would think that cards wouldn't do any damage to you, but not in this case. Luxord must have sharpened them or made them out of metal because they cut at her to the point that she was bleeding.

"And I thought cards couldn't give you paper cuts" Sora said.

Hikari snorted and blocked Luxord's cards.

"Save the jokes for when we're not fighting" she said.

"Donald, Goofy and Tsukiko aren't here, so it's all up to us"

Sora nodded.

"Got it"

Since they were three fighters short, they fight three times as hard.

Sora took the offensive while Hikari took defensive. Sora would attack using his keyblade while Hikari used her magic.

Luxord seemed to have a few tricks up his sleeve as well because he would transform them into dice or cards. Luckily Hikari was able to revert the spell before the nobody could do any serious damage to them.

Hikari sent a barrage of spells at the gambling nobody. She didn't want to take her chances of him turning them into something else, so she wasn't going to let him get the chance.

However, as the battle dragged on, Hikari noticed that her spells were getting weaker and weaker. She knew that she took an elixir before she came here and she wasn't using very powerful spells.

So what was going on?

Luxord smirked.

"Ah, so you've caught on" he said.

"It's like I said at the beginning of this battle. The first to run out of time will be the loser. That means the more this battle draws out, I become stronger while you on the other hand become weaker. The first to run out of energy loses"

Hikari cursed under her breath.

They were playing a dangerous game here. They didn't have any experience with someone who had control over any bit of time.

She may have control over time, but it wasn't much.

So much for being a sorceress.

Wait, that was it! Luxord may have power over time, but he was still a nobody. And Nobodies didn't use a lot of their power in fear of fading back to the darkness.

The tables were turned in her favor.

Hikari smirked darkly.

"_I may use up my magic on a few spells, but I could always take something to re-boost it. But he can't" _she thought.

She quickly took an elixir when Luxord was distracted by Sora.

She took a deep breath and harnessed all of the sorceress energy she could muster. She couldn't screw up on this, or things would turn very ugly, very fast.

"_I haven't used this spell in so long so let's hope I can still master it" _she thought.

Her eyes shone with determination as she held her keyblade up.

"STOPGA!"

And just like magic, Luxord froze where he stood.

"What the?" Sora exclaimed.

"Now Sora! Here's your chance!" Hikari cried.

Sora got the message and did a barrage of moves on the frozen nobody while he was still under the spell.

When the spell wore off, Luxord staggered away in complete shock. He never expected a keyblade wielder to know of such a spell. Not even Ankoku knew that.

Not wanting to risk to chance of falling under that spell again, he caged himself within his cards so he could portal away safely.

Sora and Hikari weren't going to let that happen, so they quickly performed a slice and dice move to cut the cards in half.

Luxord let out a strangled cry as he fell to his knee.

Just as he was fading away, he gave them a weak glare.

"How could you…" he rasped.

"Roxas…Ankoku…"

Sora and Hikari growled at that.

What was with these creeps calling them by a different name?

"It's Sora and Hikari!" Sora snapped.

Luxord just looked away as he faded back to nothingness.

When he was finally gone, the keyblade masters were able to relax.

"We did it" Sora said.

He looked at Hikari with a smile.

"That's was smart on your part" he said.

"I didn't know that you knew that spell"

Hikari smiled weakly.

"Neither did I" she said.

Just then, the pain in her heart flared up that she crouched forward in pain. The black substance splattered all over the white floor as she coughed it up. It seemed that last spell really did it for her.

Sora panicked and steadied her when she swayed slightly.

"You ok?" he asked.

He knew that was a stupid question, but he just had to ask.

Hikari nodded weakly as she wiped the stuff from her lips.

"I should be" she said.

Sora gave her a sad look.

Now that she didn't have the potion anymore, she was in serious danger. They didn't know when she would have an attack like that again or if it would be worse than this. All they could do at this point was pray.

Just then, the cards that trapped everyone appeared and brought everyone back.

Hikari quickly wiped the black stuff on her skirt so she wouldn't worry anyone. She didn't want to freak Riku or her mother out. This was her battle and she would deal with it herself.

Kairi quickly ran up to them.

"You ok?" she asked.

Hikari smiled weakly.

"Yeah! No worries" she said.

"You looked awfully pale" Tsukiko pointed out.

Hikari bit the inside of her cheeks when she saw her mother starting to panic.

"I-I just used a few powerful spells and it really drained me" she said.

"I just need an elixir and I should be fine"

Riku studied her for a moment and knew she was lying. He could tell just by the look on her face that she was in serious pain, and he knew why. He mentally swore when he realized that he didn't have another one of those potions on him. He just prayed that she would be alright long enough to see the end of this battle.

Sora looked at the portal that they came from.

"Let's keep moving" he said.

Everyone followed him back to the portal before another member of the Organization appeared.

Hikari walked sluggishly with her friends. Her heart was still hurting her and it was hard to breath if she moved real fast.

She felt Riku wrap an arm around her shoulders and had her lean into him as they walked.

"Just relax" he said.

"Nothing will harm you as long as I'm here"

Hikari smiled weakly and gripped his coat with her free hand. She was already feeling safe with his arm wrapped around her as he lead her back. She even found it sweet that he was going at a slow pace for her, even though they needed to hurry. Xemnas wasn't going to wait for them.

She buried her face in his chest as they walked.

Even if they were in a hurry to beat the Organization, she still had the time to cherish each moment with the man she loved most.

And that kind of time is worth every minute.

/

**A/N: I know this fighting chapter sucked, but like I said, I didn't know who to describe it since it's different than the others. **

**But on the upside, we get to fight Saix. That means Tsukiko can finally get her revenge. **

**It also seems like Hikari is starting to use her real powers as a sorceress. And I'm sure you've noticed that I've hinted towards the next villain for the series (not the Birth By Sleep one) Just who could it be that has control over time? **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**JA ne!  
**


	47. Luna Diviner

Chapter 47: Luna Diviner

**A/N: We're almost near the end of the story! Now we get to fight the Organization's second in command. Will Tsukiko finally get her revenge, or not? Only fate can tell. We also get to see what her sorceress powers are and what sort of damage they can do.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

When everyone made it back to the Proof of Existence, they saw that another portal was activated. The title _Luna Diviner _was written underneath with and had a claymore symbol on it.

"That's got to be Saix" Riku said.

"He's the only one who would wield such a weapon"

Tsukiko growled when she heard the nobody's name. It was thanks to him that Axel was gone.

Letting her anger fuel her, she ran through the portal; forgetting the possible dangers that lurked on the other side.

"Tsukiko, no!" Taiyouko cried.

She quickly ran after her nobody before she could get hurt.

Sora looked at his friends.

"We should hurry. Who knows what's on the other side"

Kairi quickly ran through the portal, followed by Donald and Goofy.

Hikari went to take a step forward, but Sora stopped her.

"You should probably sit out on this one" he said.

"You still look pale and it looks like you're having a hard time breathing"

That was true. Hikari was still feeling a slight pain in her heart, but it nearly wasn't as bad as before. It was just a dull, throbbing pain. But it must have appeared worse because she really was pale and she looked like she was about to pass out any second now.

She gave Sora a weak glare.

"I'm not going to stand off on the side lines when I've come this far" she said.

"This is just as much as my battle as it is for everyone else. I've come too far to quit now and I'm not going to let a little chest pain stop me"

Riku looked at her sadly and just gripped her shoulders.

He didn't want her to fight when she looked so fragile at the moment, but he knew that she had a will of steel. She would keep fighting, even if it killed her. He admired that trait, but not at the moment. He wouldn't let her fight like this when he was around.

If Sora couldn't stop her, then maybe he could.

"You look like you're about to pass out" he insisted.

"You don't have to fight every single battle that you come across to. It's alright to skip a few when you know you're not at your strongest"

Hikari shook her head.

"This isn't about fighting" she said.

"I need to stop the Organization. I have to make them pay for making my mom and I suffer. Xemnas needs to pay for what he's done to everyone…to what he's done to you"

Riku looked at her sadly. So she wanted revenge for what happened to him. She thought that if she defeated Xemnas, then he would return to his regular body.

"_Hikari…" _he thought.

He pulled her into a hug and ran his hand through her hair.

"It's not his fault for what happened to me" he said.

"It's mine. I foolishly gave in to the darkness and let myself become a puppet. I foolishly allowed him to almost kill you. No one is to blame but me. This is my punishment, and I've accepted it"

Hikari buried her face into his chest and held him tightly.

"Well I haven't!" she said.

"You may have given into the darkness, but it's his fault for letting that happen! He tricked you into thinking that the darkness made you stronger. He manipulated you into allowing you turn your body into his vessel. It's his fault that he tried to kill me and made my mother suffer. He's the one who made this all happen, and I need to stop him!"

She pulled away to look at him and Sora with a determined look.

"I don't care if my heart is causing me problems" she said.

"That hasn't stopped me since the beginning of this journey and it isn't going to stop me now! I've come this far and I'm not going to give up! Even if it kills me, I'll still keep fighting. Because if I do, then Xemnas will win. I won't let him ruin someone else's life for his goals. And I won't let you stop me!"

Riku bit the inside of his cheeks when he saw that she wasn't going to back down. Even if he made her stay here while they fought, she would have found a way to join the fight. It tore him up that she had to be this way, but he knew that's what made her so special. She was no nonsense and wouldn't let anyone stop her from doing what she believed in. Not even him.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop her, he sighed sadly and nodded slowly.

"Alright" he said.

"You win. I won't stop you from fighting. All I ask is take it easy and let the others fight as well"

He gripped her shoulders and gave her a pleading look.

"I don't want anything bad happening you. So please take it easy...for me"

Hikari gave him a sad smile and gripped his hands.

"Ok" she said.

"Although I can't promise you that I'll take it easy, but I'll try. Like I said before, this is as much of my fight as it is yours"

Riku nodded.

"Then let's go" Sora said.

"I don't think Donald and Goofy can handle things on their own"

They walked through the portal where they were sure to face their next enemy.

/

The portal brought them to an open room that had a massive window. Kingdom Hearts could be seen clear as day through the clear glass as it illuminated the room with its enchanting light.

Saix stared up at the heart shaped moon in thought before he looked at the group. He knew that Xigbar and Luxord were terminated thanks to them, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He wasn't the second in command for nothing.

He gave the keyblade masters a cold, dark grin. Even thought Roxas and Ankoku were gone, he was still going to get his revenge on them. Nobody turned on the Organization without suffering the consequences. He made sure of that.

"Only two could have made it this far" he said to them.

"Roxas...Ankoku"

Sora and Hikari growled in annoyance. They were really getting tired of being called someone else. They had names, so why weren't they used properly?

"That's really getting old!" Sora said.

Donald and Goofy quickly stood in front of them protectively.

"Yeah! They're Sora and Hikari!" Donald said.

Hikari smiled softly when she saw how protective they were of them.

Saix just picked up his claymore and activated the spikes before facing them.

"Different name, same fate" he said.

He swung his claymore at them, blasting them with a powerful gust of wind.

Sora, Hikari, Donald and Goofy were able to stand their grounds using their weapons as shields. Kairi and Taiyouko on the other hand weren't so lucky and would have been hit if Riku didn't shield them. Tsukiko was thrown back from the blast and skidded next to them.

She went to charge forward but Saix put up a barrier so they wouldn't intervene. Riku and Taiyouko panicked when they realized that Sora and Hikari would have to face Saix on their own. Riku was flipping out more because he knew Hikari was still trying to recover from her latest chest pain. He didn't know if she could fight at the moment and he didn't know if she would be ok.

Tsukiko slammed her fist into the barrier hoping that it would break.

"Damn it!" she cried.

Taiyouko clasped her hands in fear when she saw her daughter facing off against Saix.

"Hikari"

She prayed that her daughter would be alright and that this fight would be over fast.

/

Everyone noticed that Saix was acting different once he put the barrier up. It was as if his aura level had sky rocketed from being nothing to unbearable. His body seemed to glow and his eyes turned to bright yellow.

"Moon! Shine down!" he cried.

Everyone barely had enough time to dodge out of the way when he came at them. One minute he was standing near the window and then he was in their faces in the next. He was that fast.

He slammed his claymore down to the ground and caused the floor to indent. He may have not looked like it, but they could tell he was that strong.

The second in command let out a loud battle cry as he went berserk on them. Sora and Hikari didn't even bother trying to counter attack him. If they even got as even an inch close to him, they would be dead.

Hikari flipped out of the way when Saix went to slam his claymore down on her. She cringed and grabbed her chest when she felt it throbbing.

"_Not good" _she thought.

"_I can't fight him like this. I can't even get an opening on him"_

Just then, she heard a voice in her head.

"**Knock his claymore out of his hand. He'll calm down when he doesn't have it"**

She didn't know where that voice came from, but she was willing to take its advice. She would take anything that would help her finish this battle.

She saw Saix trying to hit Sora with his claymore and managed to clip him in the side. Sora fell down to the ground and curled up in pain.

Saix smiled like a mad man and raised his claymore over his head.

Hikari gasped in fear and quickly chucked her keyblade at the nobody.

She was rewarded with her keyblade hitting Saix's arm and making him drop his claymore.

The Luna Diviner glared at her when he realized that she broke him from his berserker mode. All he could see then and there was Ankoku.

"You…" he hissed.

Hikari summoned her keyblade back to her side and gave him a determined look. Inside, she was shaking like crazy with fear. Since Sora was out for the count at the moment, it was up to her to stop Saix. She didn't know how far she could get with the current condition she was in, but she had to try. She couldn't depend on everyone else to fight for her.

She aimed her keyblade at Saix and glared at him.

"Your fight is with me" she said.

Saix just laughed at that.

"If I had a heart, this is where I would be dying with laughter" he said.

"You think that you can defeat me?"

He picked up his claymore and let it dangle from his grip.

"However, you did make me lose my concentration" he said.

"I suppose I can humor you while gain it back"

Hikari held her keyblade out in front of her and concentrated.

"I won't let you get that far" she said.

"I won't be defeated!"

She charged at Saix and clashed her keyblade with his claymore.

Riku, Taiyouko and Kairi watched in horror as they saw her fight the second in command all by herself.

"Hikari, no!" Riku cried.

He kept flinching whenever he saw Hikari nearly avoiding one of Saix's attacks. This was tearing him up since he knew that he couldn't break the barrier to save her.

Kairi shook as she watched her best friend fighting for her life in this battle. She silently prayed for Sora to get back up so he could help her.

Hikari flipped out of the way when Saix swung his claymore at her. She staggered when she landed and gripped her chest. Her heart was throbbing badly as she pushed herself to the limit. She knew it was bad to fight by herself, but if she didn't do anything, then who would? Sora was still recovering from the hit Saix gave him and Donald and Goofy were knocked out.

It was all up to her at this moment.

Taking a deep breath, she held her keyblade out in front of her and concentrated all of her magic into the next move.

"_I know I'm going to be taking a big risk with this, but I have to do it" _she thought.

She unleashed her magic and transformed into one of her forms. However, unlike her other forms, this one was entirely different.

Her whole body was covered in white as her outfit transformed into a white ruffled dress that was silver in the middle and white at the bottom. She wore barefoot like sandals that had silver hearts as the end and wound up to her knees. Her eyes had silver eye shadow, making her green eyes seem to pop out more. Her hair became a bit curly and bounced around her shoulders. And to top it all off, she seemed to be hovering above the ground slightly with her keyblade and the Oblivion keyblade beside her.

This was her most powerful form of all.

Her final form.

Riku blushed at the sight of Hikari's transformation. He never thought she could be more beautiful than now. It seemed even when she was fighting, she could still look breath taking.

Saix didn't seemed phased by the little show and scoffed.

"You think that putting on a little fashion show will stop me?" he retorted.

Hikari didn't say anything. Her eyes were so cold that it could freeze anything in sight.

Saix held up his claymore and pointed it at Hikari.

"Play time is over" he said.

Hikari smirked darkly.

"Really?"

She zipped across the room and was standing behind him in a manner of seconds.

"I was about to say the same thing"

Saix whipped around, completely surprised that she could move so fast.

He went skidding across the room as she slammed her keyblades into his side. She didn't even have to move her arms in order to do so she had that much control over her magic.

Her face was completely serious as she held her hand out in front of her.

"Light. Rain down"

Beams of light formed above them and came raining down on Saix. The second in command blocked most of them, but he wasn't able to deflect all of them. He cursed when his jacket was ripped in certain places and glared at Hikari. All he could see at this moment was Ankoku. She wore that same serious look when she fought him. The look of someone who thought their opponent was weak and pathetic.

Oh, how he hated that look.

He was going to make sure he wiped it off of her face.

Hikari's keyblades hovered in front of her as she held her hand out.

"Playtime's over"

Her keyblades flew past her and started striking Saix. They kept jabbing and slicing him to the point that Saix couldn't hold them off.

The second in command growled in frustration. How could this weak, helpless girl hold so much power?

Hikari summoned her keyblades back to her and sent the nobody a deadly stare.

"This ends now!"

She charged at him with her keyblades glowing. She needed to end this now before it was too late.

Saix held his side as he watched the sorceress come at him. He didn't have time to move out of the way and he didn't know what she had up her sleeve. All he knew was that he would have to endure it and take it like a man.

Hikari jumped up in the air and had her keyblades pointed at the nobody.

"It's been fun, nobody" she said.

She went to land the finishing blow, only to have herself reverted back to her normal form.

Hikari was stunned and shocked at the same time. She didn't realize that she was running so low on her magic that her form wore off.

And to make matters even worse, she coughed up more of the black substance. So much for trying to stay within her limits.

Saix smirked darkly when he saw that he was saved and quickly grabbed her by the throat. Hikari kicked and thrashed as the nobody slowly started crushing her windpipes.

"You were right, it has been fun" he said.

"But now it's my turn"

He held up his claymore and pressed on of the blades to her neck. Hikari cringed when she was struggling to breathe properly and to fight the searing pain in her heart.

"I think a slow, painful death works best for you" Saix said.

Riku at this point was in full out panic mode as he tried to break down the barrier.

"Hikari!" he shouted.

Taiyouko looked at Saix in horror as he was about to butcher her only daughter.

"Isa, please!" she pleaded.

"Put her down!"

Saix growled at the mention of his old name.

"I abandoned that name long ago" he hissed.

"Just for that I'll have you watching as I peel the flesh off of your daughter's bones"

Taiyouko freaked out when she saw Saix raised his claymore above Hikari's head.

"Hikari!" Kairi cried.

Riku tried using his dark magic to break down the barrier, but it wouldn't budge.

He looked at his girlfriend to see her still struggling. He felt so helpless at the moment. Hikari was about to get killed and he couldn't do anything to stop it. It made him feel that he broke his promise to her about nothing would happen to her when he was around.

He was a failure as a knight.

Sora managed to sit up and panicked at the sight. He willed his body to move against the pain so he could save his friend before it was too late.

Hikari on the other hand was trying her hardest to get away from her nearing death. There was no way she was going to let it end like this. She didn't come this far to get killed by this nut job.

Saix smiled like a mad man as his claymore gleamed in the moonlight.

"Say goodnight…Ankoku"

That was when Hikari snapped. She had, had it up to here with these nobodies calling her Ankoku and she was sick of it. She was Hikari and no one else!

Glaring daggers she managed to swing her leg back to send a nasty kick to his face.

"It's Hikari you prick!"

She was rewarded with the sound of his nose making contact with her boot and resulted in breaking it.

Saix let her go as he gripped his face and tried to stop his nose from bleeding.

Sora skid across the floor and caught Hikari before she could hit the floor.

"Nice one, Hikari" he said.

Hikari managed to smile as she tried to get air back in her lungs. She coughed up a bit of the black substance, but that was expected.

Saix glared at them as he fixed his nose.

"How dare you?" he hissed.

He held his claymore high over his head and had that crazy look back in his eye.

"I was going to finish you off one by one. But why not kill two birds with one stone?"

Sora held onto Hikari tightly as he summoned up his keyblade. He was still hurting from Saix's hit, but he couldn't let that stop him when Hikari almost got herself killed moments ago.

Everyone behind the barrier was panicking still when they saw their comrades were pretty much at their limits.

Tsukiko couldn't help but see Roxas and Ankoku at the moment. It was as if she was seeing them being bullied by Saix and he was going to finish them off for no reason. Like what he did to Axel.

Panic rose from within her as she thought of that. She couldn't lose anyone else that was precious to her. Even if they weren't really there anymore.

"NO!"

She summoned up a portal and brought her to the battle. She summoned her scythe and blocked Saix's claymore just as it was about to hit the keyblade masters.

Saix smirked coldly when he saw his new guest.

"Well, well. If it isn't Axel's little squeeze" he said.

"I hope you're here to give me a better show. You were so pathetic the last time that we fought"

Tsukiko had murdered written in her eyes as she stared the nobody down. Here was the being that killed the man that she loved most.

"Keep your filthy hands off of them" she growled.

Saix just laughed darkly.

"What do you hope to accomplish here?" he asked.

"Axel isn't here to save you this time"

Tsukiko gripped her scythe tightly.

"Who said I needed saving?" she asked.

"This time, I'm the one who's going to be doing the saving"

Saix just dangled the tip of his claymore near Tsukiko's neck.

"Such brash words from such a puny nobody" Saix said.

Tsukiko got into a fighting stance and smirked darkly.

"We'll just see about who's puny"

The two of them clashed with each other. Sparks flew as scythe and claymore clashed. Both of the nobodies had murder written in their eyes. Tsukiko was filled with revenge over the man who killed her beloved while Saix was filled with revenge over the woman who took his best friend away. Both were fighting over the same person, but with different purposes.

Sora carried Hikari away from the battle and had Donald healed her. The sorceress looked rather pale from her latest pain attack and the fact that she transformed into a very powerful form. She was lucky to be alive right now.

Hikari weakly looked at Tsukiko as she fought with Saix.

"She needs our help" she said.

Sora shook his head and he held her still.

"She'll be fine" he said.

"She's not going to let that creep push her around. She's a lot like you. She won't let anything get in her way once she has her sights on something"

Hikari looked at him, then at Tsukiko.

She watched her mother's nobody flipped out of the air as Saix swung his claymore at her.

"I hope you're right"

/

Tsukiko ducked when Saix swung his claymore at her again. If there was one thing she learned when she fought with him last time, it was that she picked up his fighting skills.

Just like with her scythe, he couldn't use it properly except swinging it around. Since it was so huge, that was the only thing he could do. The only thing that he made up for it was that he would go into berserker mode. He didn't need to worry about the fighting limit his weapon had. He made up for it with his massive strength and energy. She figured that out thanks to the scars on her back.

She jumped out of the way when Saix jabbed the sharp end of his claymore at her.

She really wasn't getting anywhere at this point. All she was doing was dodging and trying to get to his blind spot.

She skidded back and jabbed the spear end of her weapon at the second in command. Saix flipped out of the way and flung his claymore at her.

Tsukiko didn't have time to move out of the way since it was coming at her with such high speed.

Using her arms as a shield, she prepared herself for some serious injuries.

"_Looks like I'm going to have more scars" _she thought.

However, the claymore never made contact with her.

Instead, a wall of fire erupted from the ground and blocked the claymore from hitting her.

Tsukiko was stunned to see fire suddenly appear out of nowhere. She thought that maybe either Sora or Hikari were the ones who did it, but Saix knew who it was from.

The second in command scowled with disgust when he saw the flames die away.

"Even in death, he's still interfering" he spat.

"When will you ever learn, Axel?"

Tsukiko gasped when she heard that.

That was Axel's fire? But how could that be? He faded away in her arms. He used the last of his strength to get them here.

Then she remembered her last kiss with him. She didn't think about it then, but she realized that it was incredibly warm. Almost as if it was on fire.

She touched a hand to her lips when she realized that despite dying, Axel was able to transfer his powers over to her. He was still protecting her, even if he vanished.

He was still alive within her.

"_Axel" _she thought.

She smiled slightly to herself.

"_You want to finish this fight, just as much as I do"_

She gripped her scythe tightly and faced Saix.

"_Well…let's finish it"_

She knew there was no way that she was going to defeat Saix with the way she was fighting him. He was smart, so he probably studied all of her moves and how she fought. The only way that she would be able to finish this is if she used her power.

Her nobody power.

Closing her eyes, she summoned up her energy and let it surround her.

Saix raised an eyebrow when he saw purple energy covering the nobody.

"Well now. It looks like you're finally taking this seriously"

Tsukiko opened her eyes as she looked at her opponent.

"You could say that" she said.

"I'm getting bored with this game of cat and mouse. Let's bring this to an end"

Saix got into a fighting stance and gripped his claymore tightly.

"With pleasure" he said.

Tsukio smirked and held her scythe out.

Everyone thought that she was going to attack first, but they were surprised when they saw her just spinning it around her fingers.

Saix growled in annoyance. Was she toying with him?

"What is the meaning of this? I thought you wanted to take this seriously?"

Tsukiko chuckled darkly.

"Oh I am" she said.

"In fact, I've already made the first move"

Saix raised an eyebrow.

Made the first move? Impossible. All she did was spun her scythe around and did nothing.

Tsukiko held her scythe out and tilted her head to the side.

"You know something? You and I a kind of alike" she said.

"We're both nobodies and our powers are connected to the moon"

Saix scoffed.

"How flattering" he spat.

Tsukiko just smirked.

"Oh don't worry, I don't like this either" she said.

"But then again, we're very different. You see, the moon can do such crazy things to us. It makes us go mad with rage, kind of like your powers. But it also messes with our heads. It messes up our senses and puts everything in reverse. You just don't know what is right and what is wrong. It's like you're trapped in a different realm"

Saix glared at her.

"What are you getting at?"

Tsukiko laughed and got into a fighting stance.

"What I'm saying is that you're in my world now"

She charged at Saix with the spear end of her scythe drawn.

Saix scoffed and went into berserker mode.

"What will you realize that fighting me head on won't work?"

He started to block the tip of the scythe with his claymore, only to let out a strangled cry. He had expected to be stabbed in the chest, but for some reason, he felt himself being stabbed in the back.

Slowly turning around, he was shocked to see Tsukiko standing behind him with her scythe digging into her side.

This was impossible! She was standing in front on him just seconds ago! How could she get behind him so fast?

Tsukiko smirked darkly when the second in command jumped back so he could get away from her.

She propped her weapon on her shoulder and laughed at him.

"I told you. You're in my domain now"

Saix glared weakly as he stared at the nobody.

How was she able to hit him?

"H-How did you?..."

Tsukiko shook her head in annoyance.

"Wow. For being second in command, you sure are dense" she said.

"I even told you what my powers were. While you're power leans towards the madness of the moon, mine leans towards the confusion. In other words, I mess things up"

Saix's eyes widen slightly when he realized what she was saying.

"That's right, tough guy" Tsukiko said.

"I have control over inverted world. Once you're in my domain, everything is reversed. Up is down, left is right and forward is backward. Your senses are reversed and messed up. So when I was attacking you from the front, I was really attacking you from the back. No matter what you see, it's always reversed. And the best part about these abilities is that even if you catch on to my little pattern, I can always change it so you can never figure it out"

Saix paled drastically when he realized the situation he got himself into. He had been careless for not fighting her seriously. Instead of toying around with her, he should have killed her on the spot.

Now he saw why Axel cared about her so much.

Tsukiko laughed and held her scythe out.

"It's been fun, but it's time to wrap this up" she said.

Her eyes glowed darkly as she got into a fighting stance.

"Now it's payback time"

She launched into her attack and hit Saix in all directions. When Saix went to block in one direction, she would hit him in the other. It didn't matter how much Saix studied her moves, she would always change them.

Everyone was stunned to see Tsukiko fight Saix as if it was child's play. She made it look so easy when they were having a hard time just trying to hit him. They supposed that was an upside to being a nobody.

When Tsukiko got tired of playing with Saix, she aimed for the finishing blow.

Glaring darkly at the nobody, she stabbed her scythe into his chest. Right where his heart should have been.

"That's for Axel" she said.

Saix staggered away from her and hobbled over towards the window. He weakly looked at Kingdom Hearts. After coming this far with their plans, it seemed that he would never be able to harness the true powers of Kingdom Hearts. He would never be able to get his own heart back.

Reaching out for the heart shaped moon, he couldn't help but sense the feeling of defeat.

Despite being second in command to the Organization. He couldn't even handle a bunch of brats.

"Why?" he rasped.

"Kingdom Hearts…where is my heart?"

And with that, the second most powerful nobody in the Organization disappeared in the darkness. Never to be seen again.

Tsukiko smiled when she saw that she got her revenge.

"_I did it, Axel_"

She could have sworn that she felt someone hug her from behind and kissed her on the cheek.

"_Way to go, Tsukiko"_

The nobody smiled when she realized that even if he was gone, Axel still lived within her heart.

/

With Saix gone, the barrier that kept the others at bay was finally destroyed.

Riku didn't hesitate as he ran towards where Hikari was.

"Hikari!" he said frantically.

The keyblade mistress had managed to stop coughing up the black stuff, but her heart still hurt.

Sora slowly handed her over to Riku and watched and he held her tightly to his chest.

Riku was so relieved to see that she was alive. He thought he was going to die of a heart attack when he saw her being held up by her throat like that. If only he had been able to break the barrier soon, then none of this would have happened.

"I'm so sorry" he said.

"I should have been there to help you. I'm so sorry"

Hikari smiled softly when she felt him running his hand through her hair. She felt bad that she made him worry, but it made her happy that he cared so much.

She hugged him in return and buried her face into his chest.

"You protected my mom and Kairi" she stated.

"If you had left them just to save me, then I wouldn't forgive you. Don't blame yourself for what happened, because it's not your fault"

Riku didn't say anything and just pressed his lips to the crown of her head.

He would always blame himself for letting her almost get killed, but he wouldn't say anything.

Right now, he was just glad that she was alright. Well, almost alright. She was still pale from her last pain attack and appeared to still be suffering from it.

Taiyouko knelt in front of her and sadly looked at her daughter.

"Oh, my poor baby" she said.

She pulled out a potion bottle that contained that white liquid and handed it to her.

"Here. Drink it all up"

Hikari quickly chugged the whole potion down and was rewarded with the color returning to her face and the pain fading from her chest.

Taiyouko was relieved when she saw her daughter returning to normal.

Sora smiled as well, but something was bothering him.

Why was everyone calling Hikari and himself Roxas and Ankoku?

Surely there had to be a reason for that.

"I don't get it" he said.

"Why does everyone keep calling Hikari and I Ankoku and Roxas?"

Hikari nodded slightly.

"Yeah. I've been wondering about that too" she said.

Riku sighed.

He thought that his best friend was smart enough to figure it out by now, but it seemed he was wrong. He figured that Hikari had a lot of questions that needed to be answered, so he cut her some slack.

Now he had to explain everything again.

"Because…Roxas and Ankoku are your nobodies"

The keyblade masters gasped at that.

Did they just hear him correctly? They had nobodies.

"Our…nobodies?" Sora cried.

"But how is that possible?" Hikari asked.

"I never turned into a heart-"

She stopped when she realized how she got a nobody.

"Oh"

Riku looked at her sadly.

"It was when saved me" he said.

"You gave up your heart just so you could save mine from becoming Ansem's puppet"

"And it was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi added.

Of course they remembered. They had given up their hearts just so they could save the ones they loved most. It didn't matter if they turned into heartless. As long as they were safe, they didn't care.

"Xemnas was the one who found Roxas and Ankoku" Riku explained.

"They could use the keyblades because they were your Nobodies. That's why Xemnas brought them into the Organization-but they betrayed them. Ankoku came to me willingly, but Roxas didn't. I fought with him because I thought they would help you both wake. I lost. But, then next time that we met I made sure I was the stronger one"

He mulled over a thought that he had been thinking lately.

"Maybe I didn't need to fight Roxas" he said.

"I think he left the Organization because…he wanted to see Sora"

Sora looked surprised at that.

Hikari looked at Riku.

"What about Ankoku?" she asked.

Taiyouko smiled sadly.

"She left because she really wanted to meet you" she said.

"She knew about you and she just wanted to see you in person. It didn't matter if she had to return to you, as long as she was able to be beside you, then that was good enough for her"

Hikari looked touched by that.

Her nobody really wanted to see her so badly that she betrayed the Organization and returned to her body so she could wake up.

She frowned when she thought of that.

Since she returned to, that meant she would never be able to see her in person.

"I wish I could meet her, too" she said.

Sora nodded sadly.

"Same here"

Riku smirked a little and pointed towards their hearts, indicating that they could always see them there.

Hikari smiled.

It was kind of exciting having a Nobody. It was like having a twin almost. She was the missing piece to her heart. Her other half.

She frowned when she thought of something.

"Wait. How do I even have a nobody?" she asked.

"I mean, I get it because I turned into a heartless, but how is that possible? Princesses of light aren't supposed to have darkness in their hearts. Kairi didn't fade away when her heart was taken from her. So why was I…"

Taiyouko bit her lip and had her bangs covering her face. She figured her daughter would figure out what was going on. She just wished that she didn't. Oh how she wished for not doing those horrible things. How she wished that she wasn't involved with this madness.

"It's because of me" she said weakly.

Hikari looked at her mother confused.

How was it her fault that she turned into a heartless.

"Mom…what are you saying?"

Tears fell from Taiyouko's eyes and landed in her lap. She couldn't face her daughter, fearing the look on her face once she told her tale.

"I just wanted to keep you safe" she slowly started.

"After I found out that you were one of the princesses of light, I just had to protect you from Xehanort. I couldn't let him harm you. I was willing to do anything, even if it meant it would cause me grief in the end"

Hikari really didn't like where this was going, but she felt that she had to know.

Taiyouko gripped her dress tightly as she swallowed her nerves.

"The final door must be opened by eight hearts that are deprived of darkness" she said weakly.

"If one of them had even the smallest bit of darkness, then the door wouldn't open"

She closed her eyes tightly as she recalled her gravest sins.

"I couldn't let Xehanort use you as a sacrifice for his own goals" she said.

"I couldn't let him take you away from me. So…I did something that I shouldn't have done"

Hikari gulped as she looked at her mother. She had never seen her so torn and upset like this before. Whatever it is that she did, she knew that it couldn't be good.

"What did you do?" she asked shakily.

Taiyouko whimpered and buried her face in her hands.

"I used a dark magic and literally put darkness in your heart!" she sobbed.

Hikari felt her heart stop as she heard that.

Her mother put darkness into her heart? The very thing that she was suppose to destroy?

She recalled the one memory where her mother placed a spell on her and made her heart ache.

Was this the reason why she was having these chest pains?

Sora and everyone else were stunned as well.

How could Taiyouko do this to her own daughter?

"B-but why?" Sora asked.

"Why would you do that to her?"

Taiyouko cried some more as she wiped her eyes.

"I didn't want Xehanort to hurt my daughter!" she cried.

"It was only suppose to be temporary. As soon as he gave up with his plans to open the final door, I would remove the spell. It wasn't suppose to end like this!"

She cried harder as she recalled everything.

"By the time I went to remove the spell, it was too late" she sobbed.

"The darkness was so attached to her heart that it would take a miracle to get rid of it. It was doing so much damage to her heart that I crated her pendant so it could shield her heart from the darkness. I thought if you had that on, then maybe the darkness would be destroyed. But then you gave the pendant to Riku at Kingdom Hearts. And then…"

Hikari knew what happened next.

"And then my chest pains started up again" she said.

Taiyouko nodded as she wiped her tears.

"I'm sure you've been wondering why your chest has been hurting and why you kept coughing that black stuff up" she said.

"It's the darkness that I placed into your heart when you were little. I guess during your travels, the light in your heart was trying to get rid of it. Every time you destroyed the heartless or defeated an Organization member, a little bit of it would be removed from your heart"

So that explained why she was coughing that stuff up. She was just getting rid of the darkness that was in her heart for so long. It was like she was getting rid of a virus that was trapped within her body.

"Then what about that potion Riku gave me?" she asked.

"What was that for?"

Taiyouko looked at her hands.

"That was light" she said.

"Light?" Hikari asked in disbelief.

Taiyouko nodded.

"Being a sorceress of light, you tend to learn interesting spells, such as putting darkness in a person's heart or making a potion purely out of light. That potion was a way to null the pain your heart while it was getting rid of the darkness. It didn't do much, but at least you weren't in pain"

Hikari placed a hand over her heart.

So that was what the potion was for. As long as she took that potion, she wouldn't be in any pain. She could feel relaxed while her heart was getting rid of the darkness.

But for how long would this keep up?

"Will the darkness ever be gone in Hikari's heart?" Kairi asked.

Taiyouko nodded.

"Yes" she said.

"Once she defeats Xemnas. He's the sources of the darkness that's been plaguing the worlds. Destroy the source and you destroy the virus"

Hikari looked at her chest.

So she really had to stay through until the end. Otherwise the darkness would never leave her heart.

"I guess I'll never get cut any slack" she said.

Taiyouko cried into her hands again.

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed.

"I never meant to hurt you or put you through so much pain! I just wanted to protect you as best as I could! I didn't want Xemnas to take away my little girl from me! I'm so sorry!"

Hikari looked at her mother as she cried.

She should have been furious with her for doing something so horrible. What kind of mother placed a foul spell on her child?

But as she saw her cry, she couldn't help but feel bad for her. She must have been desperate to protect her if she was willing to put darkness into her heart. She was just being a mother who wanted to protect her child as best as she could.

She couldn't be hate her for that.

Slowly crawling out of Riku's lap, she went over to her mother and hugged her tightly.

"I'm not mad" she said.

"You were just trying to protect me. I'll admit, I think it was a little cruel of you do to that to me, but I'm sure you had your reasons. You were just looking out for me. And for that, I thank you"

Taiyouko was in complete shock as she heard this.

She thought that Hikari would be yelling and screaming at her for what she did. And yet, here she was, hugging her and forgiving what she did.

She started crying again as she hugged her daughter tightly.

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed.

Hikari hugged her mother and rubbed her back.

Even if she was mad at her for the moment, she would always love her mother. After all, she was the only one she had.

"I forgive you" she said.

"Although…there is something that I've been meaning to ask you for some time"

She pulled away and gave her mother a serious look.

"Is Xemnas really my father?" she asked.

"I've remembered calling him dad as a child having him in my life back at Radiant Garden. But lately I've been realizing things and Leon said that he came to our world when I really 4. There's no way that he could be my biological father, and yet all I've remembered is me calling him dad"

She gave her mother a pleading look.

"I need to know the truth" she said.

"Is he really my dad? Am I related to the man who caused so much pain to the worlds?"

Taiyouko looked at her daughter for a moment, then closed her eyes.

"No" she said.

Hikari felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest.

So she really wasn't related to Xemnas after all.

So then why…

"At least…not your biological father" Taiyouko continued.

She slowly looked at her daughter and gave her a sad look.

"I think you've guessed enough about your past" she said.

"I think it's time that I told you everything. About Xemnas. About your past. About my past…and about your real father"

/

**A/N: yay! Saix is finally dead! I hope you liked Tsukiko's powers. I thought they would fit her.**

**So everyone knows why Hikari was having chest pains. I'll admit, that was mean of Taiyouko, but I'm sure she had her reasons.**

**And the biggest shock is that Xemnas really isn't Hikari's father! But then again, did you really think I would have her related to 'man sex'? Not only would that be wrong, but that would totally mess up the Birth By Sleep story line. **

**So Xemnas isn't her father, then who is?**

**You'll find out as soon as you review.**

**Ja ne!**


	48. A Mother's Sorrow

Chapter 48: A Mother's Sorrow

**A/N: I see that some of you are starting to figure out who Hikari's real dad is. I just can't wait to see (or read) your expressions when you find out in this chapter. **

**Here we learn about Taiyouko's dark past and how she's tied with the heartless. I always find it horrible that such bad things happen to such good people. What did they do to deserve this? **

**Hopefully, you'll understand what she did and why she had to do it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everyone stared at Taiyouko as she started to tell her tale.

Finally, they would get the answers that had been plaguing them since the start of this journey. They would find out who Hikari's real father was and how Xehanort was involved with all of this.

The sorceress looked at her lap sadly.

"Where should I begin?" she asked.

Hikari looked at her mother sadly.

She was relieved to know that Xemnas really wasn't her father. But that still didn't put her at ease. If Xemnas wasn't her father, then who was? Was he kind? Did he betray her mother just like Xemnas did?

She had to know.

"Why don't you start with the whole Xehanort thing" she said.

"If he isn't my dad…why did I keep calling him that?"

Taiyouko nodded slowly.

"12 years ago…a man suddenly appeared in Radiant Garden" she began.

"He had no recollection of who he was, only that his name was Xehanort. My father, Ansem the Wise, took him in as his apprentice and tried to help him regain his memories. I felt bad for him, so I decided to befriend him and tried to make him feel welcomed in Radiant Garden. I don't know why I was so foolish to do such a thing, but…maybe it was because he was lonely…just like me"

She gripped her dress tightly.

"I always hated my father" she said.

"For as long as I could remember, he always put his work before his family. He claimed that he wanted to protect his people and make them feel loved…yet he couldn't do that for his own daughter"

She shook her head sadly.

"He was always afraid of me because I was a sorceress" she said.

"Since I was born with magical powers, that made me different from everyone. It made me dangerous. No one would come near me unless they had to. They were so afraid that they would suffer the wrath of my powers. The only person who was never afraid of me was my mother. She protected me and made me feel loved. My dad didn't have to worry about raising a sorceress and could just focus on ruling his world"

She closed her eyes sadly.

"But when my mom died, that's when things really became hard. My dad had to be a single parent to a child who had magical powers. He tried to be a loving parent, but he just didn't have the heart for it. It was so painful, knowing that your parent feared you and your powers. I was so lonely and not even my own father could fix that. The only comfort I got was when I became a mother. I was never lonely and never feared. I had two wonderful souls that loved me and depended on me. I felt like I was really important for once"

Hikari smiled slightly at that. She remembered all of the times when she and Leon were little and when they would always come running to her. If they were scared or confused about something, they could always go to their mom.

Taiyouko smiled slightly, but the sadness in her eyes was still visible.

"But even though I had children to keep me company, it still didn't fill the empty void I felt in my heart" she said.

"Don't get me wrong. I just loved being a mother. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. But I still felt lonely without a companion in my life. Someone who accepted me because I was me. I just wanted someone in my life who would understand me and stay by my side"

Now it was becoming clear why Taiyouko went to Xemnas.

"So that's why you went to Xehanort?" Sora asked.

"Because you were lonely?"

Taiyouko nodded.

"He was just like me" she said.

"He was an outsider on our world and had no one to go to. I just couldn't help but think of myself and decided to befriend him. He was really kind in the beginning. Always acting like a gentleman. He tried to be nice to Leon and Hikari and acted like a father figure to them. Leon didn't like him and he always showed it. But Hikari considered him as her father, so she started calling him 'daddy'"

Hikari bit her lip.

So that' s why she called Xemnas her dad and why Leon hated him.

"But why would love such a monster?" Kairi asked.

"After everything he did"

Taiyouko smiled weakly at that.

"Oh, I never loved him" she said.

"True, I was lonely, but I wasn't looking for a lover. I just wanted a friend. I never thought of him as a boyfriend or anything like that. I just saw him a brotherly figure"

Hikari frowned at that.

"That's not what I picked up in my memories" she said.

"From what I remembered, you always looked lovey-dovey with him"

Taiyouko frowned and for the first time since she started telling her tale, she looked bitter.

"That's because it wasn't really me" she said.

"True, it was my body, but it wasn't my mind"

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that.

"What do you mean by that?" Donald asked.

Taiyouko bit her lip.

"I never knew that he was able to use magic" she said.

"Obviously he must have in the past because he started to remember his old life. Even though I didn't love him and only thought of him as a friend, he thought the opposite. He must have felt hurt that I couldn't return his feelings because whenever he was with me my mind would get all fuzzy and it was if my body was acting on its own. He figured if he couldn't have my love willingly, he would just make me love him"

Hikari recalled all of the times that she saw her mother with Xemnas. As she looked back at them, she noticed that her mother always had a distant look in her eyes. As if she really wasn't there. Was Xemnas that insane that he would make someone love him by force?

He really was a monster.

Taiyouko looked at the ground sadly.

"Leon was always cautious around him" she said.

"He never trusted him from day one and always made sure I wasn't alone with him. He noticed that Xehanort was messing with my mind, so he made sure he and Hikari were always with me. As long as there as some sort of distraction, he couldn't control my mind"

Hikari smiled at that. Leave it to her brother to protect their mom.

"I just don't know he would do something like that" Taiyouko continued.

"Why would someone, who was so kind want to control someone like that? Didn't he realize that I wasn't in love with him? Couldn't he see that my heart still belonged to someone else?"

Hikari placed a hand on her mother's shoulder and looked at her.

"If you didn't love him, then who?" she asked.

Taiyouko smiled softly.

"I could never love Xehanort…because I'm still in love with your father" she said.

She pulled a set of army tags were hidden within her dress and held them up.

"Even after not seeing him for so many years, my feelings for him have never wavered" she said.

"He always has and always will be my soul mate"

Hikari and Kairi gushed over that while Donald and Sora gagged. Riku rolled his eyes but didn't say anything because he knew he was in a similar situation with Hikari.

Taiyouko gripped the name tag tightly within her hands.

"After Xehanort tried to be possessive of me, I noticed that he started to change" she said.

"He wasn't the kind, considerate man that I once knew. Instead became dark and obsessive. My father was conducting an experiment over hearts how to rid of them of darkness. I was forced participate because of my powers"

She held up her hand and had a heart magically appeared in it.

Everyone was stunned to see a heart floating in her hand.

"My powers are very unusual from a regular sorceress" she said.

"I have the power to make hearts. They're not the same as a normal heart that we're born with, but they're dangerously close. They can feel and harbor emotions. The only difference is that they're not as entirely pure as a normal one. My dad figured I could be of use of him for his little experiment. It's kind of funny that after all this time, that was the only bonding time we've ever had. Since he couldn't use actual hearts from actual people, he had to use mine. Xehanort was in on the experiment as well. He offered to be one of the test subjects and used his heart for 'the greater good of the worlds'. After the experiment, he started to change drastically. Even after my dad stopped the experiment, he still kept doing it. I asked him to stop doing it, but he just wouldn't listen. He used people from around town and turned them into heartless. He made me help with the experiments by trying to give the heartless hearts. I didn't want to, but if I didn't he would have used my children next. He was so intent of having me near him all time. I realized that after a while that he really didn't loved be, but in fact wanted to use me"

She clenched her teeth in anger.

"It turned out the whole kind person was just a mask to hide his real self" she said.

"He knew of my powers right away and wanted to use me to help him reach his goals. He wanted to make the heartless so they could created Kingdom Hearts. He was only nice to Hikari because he knew she was one of the princesses of hearts. He pretended to care about us, but we were nothing more but tools to him. By the time I tried to stop him, it was too late. He plunged our world into darkness and I had to make the biggest sacrifice for my children by sealing my heart up"

Now Hikari could put the pieces of her memories together. Now she understood why her mother appeared to love Xehanort in the beginning and why she utterly hated him when he was 'Ansem'.

She dug her nails into the palm of her hands. She never realized how horrible her mother had it. While she was just the missing piece to Xehanort's plans, Taiyouko was the puppet that had her strings pulled by the mad puppeteer. She had no say in anything that happened. Even if she tried to stop it, it was no use because she was being controlled by someone who supposedly loved her.

She was just a victim like the rest of them.

Hikari growled to herself. She was going to make Xemnas paid for what he did. Not only because he tricked her into thinking that he was her father, but because of what he did to her mother. She was not going to let him get away after all the pain he caused her.

"He won't get away with this" she said.

"I won't let him!"

Sora stood up and pumped his fist.

"None of us will!" he said.

Tsukiko cracked her knuckles.

"Looks like I'll have one more person to clobber" she said.

Taiyouko smiled weakly at them. She was so relieved that they didn't hate her for what she did.

"Thank you" she said.

"Although it's my fault that all of this happened"

"It's not your fault" Riku said.

"You didn't know what he was capable of. And even after you knew, you tried to stop him. Don't blame yourself because it's not your fault"

Taiyouko looked surprised for a moment, then smiled sweetly at him. Of course he would know what it was like to be controlled. He had been there before.

"Maybe your right" she said.

Kairi couldn't take the negative atmosphere in the room, so she decided to change the subject. She just couldn't stand seeing Taiyouko so upset.

"So if Xehanort isn't Hikari's father, then who is?" she asked.

Hikari looked at her mother eagerly. She wanted to know who her father was as well and from the looks of everyone, so did they.

Taiyouko smiled brightly. She was glad that Kairi changed the subject and because she could talk about the man she loved most.

She handed the army tag to Hikari and watched as she read the name.

Hikari held up to her face so she could read the name printed on it properly.

_Laguna Lorie _

Laguna. The name had such a nice ring to it. She couldn't help but feel relaxed as she read her real father's name. She was finally knowing who her real dad was.

Taiyouko gently took the name tags and held them close to her heart.

"I met your father when I turned 21" she said.

"Back then, he was a soldier who traveled to different worlds to destroy sorceresses. I was a little weary of him, because of his job status, but when I got to know him, I saw that he really didn't like fighting. He was a really sweet and caring man. He kept me being a sorceress a secret from his general so he could spend time with me"

She blushed at she thought about him.

"He was really handsome and always had a way of putting a smile on my face" she said.

"He dreamed of becoming a journalist so he could travel to different worlds. He tended to mix up his words when he spoke and he was always bad with directions. He really didn't like having serious conversations and would rather talk about something silly. He was always caring about me and tried to put my needs before his. He didn't care that I was a sorceress and he loved me because I was me. He made me grateful that I was alive. He was like my knight in shining armor"

She giggled as the thought of something.

"And he always tended to get a leg cramp when he saw me. He said it was always because he got nervous when he talked to pretty girls, but I thought it was so cute. And it made me feel special because he thought I was beautiful"

Hikari smiled at that. She could already tell that her dad seemed like a very loving person. If he kept the fact that he was dating a sorceress from his general then he must have really loved her.

"I was always happen when I with him" Taiyouko said.

"It like I was living in a dream"

Her smile faded though.

"However, it all came to an end one day" she said.

"He was sent off to another world to take down a sorceress. Since he never told his general about me, he figured there were any in Radiant Garden. Laguna said that he would quit the army as soon as he defeated the sorceress"

She closed her eyes when a tear slid down her face.

"But…he never came back" she said.

She gripped the army tags tightly.

"His general returned to Radiant Garden two months later with his name tags. He said that he died during the battle and he wanted me to have something of him. He never liked me, so I thought he was lying. But since Laguna never returned, I feared that it was true"

She wiped the tear from her eyes and composed herself.

"I was so heartbroken when I realized that he would never come back" she said.

"The only man who I ever loved was never going to return to me. I would never hear his voice or see his beautiful smile. I would never hear him said I love you to me ever again"

She placed a hand over her heart.

"Seized by grief, I tried to take out my heart" she said.

"What was the point of living if I couldn't share it with the one l loved most? I thought that if I took out my heart, I would see him again. However…things didn't go as planned"

She looked at Tsukiko who has a solemn look on her face. She knew what was going to be said next and couldn't help but feel sad.

"Instead of fading into nothingness, I created Tsukiko" she said.

"She was created because of my weak heart. I felt so guilty that she was created from my own selfishness that I made her heart. Why be on this world when you can't even feel emotions? I felt responsible for creating her and decided to take care of her. She along with Leon gave me a reason to keep on living when there was nothing left for me"

She smiled softly for a moment.

"And somehow, a miracle happened" she said.

"Shortly after I created Tsukiko, I found out that I was pregnant with Hikari. I was so happy knowing that I had a part of Laguna with me. I would be able to see him through our beautiful daughter"

Hikari smiled softly. She couldn't help but feel proud of this. If her mother didn't find out she was pregnant with her, she would have died. She pretty much saved her life.

Taiyouko sighed sadly.

"I just wished Laguna knew that he was going to be a father" she said.

"He would have been so happy"

Everyone frowned sadly at that. It must have been awful that Laguna would never know that he was going to have a daughter. Especially one who had saved the worlds from darkness.

Hikari suddenly grew shy as she thought of how her father would have reacted towards her. She wondered if he would have been happy having a daughter.

"Do you think he would have liked me?" she asked.

Taiyouko laughed and nodded.

"Of course. He would have loved you to death" she said.

"He always said that he wanted a little girl to spoil. He would have been so happy to have you"

Hikari smiled brightly at that. It made her feel special that her dad would have wanted her.

"Do you think that he really died?" Goofy asked.

"If that general didn't like you, then maybe he lied to you"

Taiyouko frowned slightly.

"I always thought of that" she said.

"Since he never came back, I figured he died. But lately I've been thinking that maybe reason why didn't return was because he wasn't able to. What if the world that he was on plunged into darkness and he couldn't get away?"

Sora shot up and looked determined.

"Then we'll just have to find out" he said.

Hikari nodded and followed his lead.

"Yeah! As soon as we defeat Xemnas let's go looking for him. At lot of worlds have been restored since we sealed up Kingdom Hearts. What are the odds that the world he's on returned too?"

Donald and Goofy joined in as well.

"Yeah. Let's go on another journey!" Goofy cheered.

Kairi and Tsukiko joined in as well and declared that they would take part in this new quest.

Taiyouko laughed a little at their antics.

"Ok, ok. It sounds like a plan" she said.

"But before we go off on another journey, why don't we defeat Xemnas first?"

Everyone nodded at that.

"I'm going to make him pay" Hikari growled.

She was never one for revenge, but after hearing what Xehanort did to her mother, she couldn't but feel murderous intents.

Everyone got up from their little break and dusted themselves off. They had a Nobody to destroy and sitting around wasn't going to make it happen.

"Let's go" Tsukiko said.

"The longer we wait the closer Xemnas will get to his goals"

They head towards the portal where the Proof of Existence was.

Riku stayed close to Hikari in case she felt too tired to walk. That last pain attack really scared him and he didn't want to take his chances.

As they were walking, he looked at Taiyouko who was walking next to him.

"I told you she wouldn't hate you" he muttered to her.

Back when they were in Twilight Town, she told him everything about her connection to Xemnas and who Hikari's father was. He never blamed her for what happened because he had done worse. She had to do those things against her will while he did it willingly.

Taiyouko smiled at that.

"She's just like her father" she said.

"He was always forgiving"

Riku smiled slightly.

"Just remember that it's not your fault for what happened in the past" he said.

"Just look forward to what's going to happen"

He continued forward with the others.

Taiyouko stopped walking for a moment as she listened to Riku's words.

"_But that's the thing" _she thought.

"_I don't want to look forward to what happens, because I know what will happen"_

She closed her eyes sadly as she thought of someone that she knew long ago.

"You'll have to forgive me for what I'm about to do to Terra_" _She whispered to herself.

"Please forgive me…Lumen"

She walked forward to what she knew would be the end of her journey. It was time to get back at the man who ruined her life.

Even if he belonged to someone else.

/

**A/N: What? Did I just give you a clue as to who the new character will be for the Birth By Sleep story? I think I did!**

**Yes, Hikari's father is none other, than the loveable Laguna Lorie! **

**For those of you who might not know who Laguna is, he's a character from Final Fantasy 8 and is Squall (Leon)'s father. **

**So for those of you who thought it was Laguna from the beginning, you get a cookie!**

**And just to clear something up about the whole Taiyouko/Xehanort thing. It was Xehanort A.K.A Master Xehanort who supposedly loved her. It wasn't Terra because 1) he already has someone else and 2) there was no way that he could have because his heart was somewhere else and it was just his body. **

**And do you think that Laguna's still alive? I guess you'll have to find out in the next story!**

**I hoped you guys liked this. **

**Please review and tell me what you think! **

**Ja ne!**


	49. Anything Can Happen

Chapter 49: Anything Can Happen

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm happy to say that I'm done with finals and school! Now that I have more free time on my hands, I can make more chapters!**

**I'm glad you guys are happy to know that Laguna is Hikari's real father. Since Leon is her brother, I thought it fit. And for those of you who thought it was Terra, don't worry, he already has someone special. **

**I also noticed that I spelled Laguna's last name wrong as well. It's not Lorie, but rather Loire. Thanks for pointing that out Riku Uzumaki! You get a cookie. **

**And a few of you are wondering who Lumen is and what connection she has to the story. You'll just have to wait and find out.**

**But for now, we get to see Riku return to his regular self! Hikari will be so happy to see her boyfriend as his usual sexy self.**

**Anyway, let's get back to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari had a slight skip to her step as she made it back to the Proof of Existence.

She finally learned about her origins and knew that Xemnas wasn't her real father. She didn't have any relations to that monster other than being just a pawn to his plans.

Her real father was someone who really loved her mother dearly and would have been thrilled if he knew that he had a daughter.

She didn't know where he was or if he was still alive, but once this battle was over, she was going to find him.

But for now, she was going to get her revenge on Xemnas for tormenting her mother all of these years.

No one used her family as mere pawns while she was around!

The group was thinking the same thing as they readied themselves for the battle that was sure to come.

When they made into the Nobody graveyard, they noticed that a wall had opened up in the room. There were stairs leading up, so it must have meant that was the way to get to Xemnas.

As they were walking, Riku thought back to when Taiyouko told him everything about Hikari's past. Back when Diz said those horrible things to his daughter.

Back to the promise that he made her.

/

"_Riku…I have a favor to ask"_

_The young keyblade master looked up the photo that Taiyouko gave him of Hikari when she was a child. It was a picture of her, Taiyouko, Leon and Xemnas._

_The sorceress told him everything about Xemnas and what she did to herself and Hikari. She thought that he would be furious that she kept this from him, but he understood her reasoning's and supported her._

_With that out of the way, she wanted to ask him of something._

"_What is it?" he asked._

_Taiyouko gripped her dress as she looked at her lap. _

_She was so happy that Riku supported her and didn't hate her for what she did. But she didn't know if he would be willing to do the thing that she was about to ask._

"_I'm sure you realize that when Hikari wakes up, she's going to remember more about her past" she stated._

_Riku nodded slowly, listening carefully to her words._

"_That means she's going to remember who her 'father' is"_

"_I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't" Riku replied._

_Taiyouko looked up at him sadly._

"_It was easy for her to defeat his heartless because she didn't know who he was" she said._

"_Once she remembers who Xemnas is to her…I don't know if she'll be able to defeat him. If she'll have the heart to go through with it"_

_Riku knew where this was going._

_If Hikari remembered who Xemnas was to her before she fought with him, there was a possibility that she wouldn't be able to do it. The thought of having to kill your own family was heart wrenching, no matter what that person did. He was sure if he were in the same situation as she was, he would probably choke up as well._

_The human heart can only endure so much._

_Taiyouko sighed as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear._

"_Xemnas must be defeated" she said._

"_If he isn't, then not only will the worlds be in danger, but so will Hikari. He's the source of all of her pain. Once he's gone, so will the pain. I don't care who defeats him, I just want him gone"_

_She gave him a sad, yet serious look._

"_If Hikari isn't able to pull through in the end…if she isn't able to defeat Xemnas…I need you…I need you to…"_

"_You want me to be the one who kills him" Riku finished._

_Taiyouko bit her lip and nodded slowly._

"_I know this is a lot of me to ask you, considering I just told you my connections to him" she said._

"_But he has to be defeated. I can't let him hurt anyone else for his own selfish needs. I figured that since he's caused you so much pain and suffering, that you would be willing to kill him"_

_She looked at the ground sadly._

"_I don't want to force Hikari to do something that she doesn't want to do…but I don't want to do the same to you" she said._

"_I would do it myself, but I'm just an empty shell of what I once was. I don't have half the strength that I used to"_

_She gave him a pleading look._

"_Will you do it?" she asked._

"_If Hikari can't finish him off, will you do it?"_

_Riku mulled this over. _

_This was a really huge favor. If Hikari didn't have the heart to kill the man who imposed as her father, then he would have to shoulder the burden and do it himself. _

_But then again, he didn't want to force Hikari to do something that she didn't want to. If she couldn't defeat Xemnas, then he was more than willing to take on that role. _

_He would do anything for his princess._

_Plus, he wanted to get revenge for what he put Taiyouko through._

"_I'll do it" he said._

_Taiyouko looked surprised._

"_You will?" she asked._

"_Even after hearing all of those things I did?"_

_Riku nodded._

"_I've done worse" he said._

"_My appearance is proof of that"_

_Just thinking about what he looked like now made him tug his hood further over his face._

"_You were forced to do those things while I did them willingly. You're more of a victim than I am. And I can't let him get away with what he did to all of us"_

_Taiyouko looked touched by this._

"_Riku" she said._

_Riku smiled slightly._

"_Plus, you've been like a mom to me this past year" he said._

"_You've stood by my side, even when you knew it was dangerous. You've helped me when I needed you the most. Now it's time I repaid the favor"_

_Taiyouko had tears in her eyes when she heard this._

_She knew that Riku was such a sweet boy, but she didn't realize how sweet she was until just then._

"_Riku"_

_She stood up and hugged him tightly._

"_Thank you so much" she said._

"_You don't know how much this means to me"_

_Riku returned the hug as well._

"_It's like you said back at Castle Oblivion. We're in this together. And I'll do anything to protect Hikari"_

_Taiyouko let him go and smiled sweetly._

"_I'll be forever grateful for this" she said._

"_Thank you"_

/

And Riku still kept true to his promise. Even though Hikari now knew that Xemnas wasn't her father, he was still willing to kill him for her.

He wanted revenge for what he did to his friends and for having him almost kill Hikari back at Hollow Bastion. He had to atone for his sins and this was the only way he could do it.

He didn't care if his friends thought poorly of him afterwards, he knew he was doing the right thing.

Because that was what a knight did for his princess.

And that's what he kept telling himself as they went up the stairs.

/

Back at the upper level of the castle, Ansem's devise was starting to shake violently. It seemed that trying to turn Kingdom Hearts into data was not working out and it seemed that the machine was going to explode any time soon.

Mickey looked at his friend nervously, knowing that the machine was about to break.

"Ansem?" he asked uneasily.

Ansem the Wise just laughed weakly.

"I'm a fool" he said.

"I've spent years studying the workings of the heart. Yet it seems that I still haven't learned a thing"

"What d'ya mean?" Mickey asked.

Ansem shook his head sadly.

"The process of encoding hearts is incalculable" he said.

"The inhabitants of my Twilight Town were data created from real hearts. I was convinced that they would think and behave the way I had envisioned-but I couldn't have been more wrong. 'A heart is so much more than a system'. That's what Taiyouko would say. And she was right"

He gave his friend a weak smile.

"I saw it when Roxas, Ankoku and Kairi crossed paths" he said.

"I knew. But I was too stubborn to accept it. Especially since it meant that my daughter was right"

He looked at the ground sadly as he thought about Taiyouko. His own flesh and blood. The one soul that he loved and cherished the most, but also destroyed as well.

If it wasn't for him, then she wouldn't have suffered so.

"I'm a failure as a parent" he said quietly.

"I thought my life would be perfect ruling a world with a beautiful daughter. But that all changed the moment she was born as a sorceress. I never feared her or hated her for what she was. But I just didn't know how to adapt to having a magical child. I thought doing research would help me understand her powers, but it the end, I simply drove us apart. I put my work before my family and made my precious daughter suffer. I should have been a parent rather than a scientist. I shouldn't have said such negative things to her. I never meant to hurt her or get her involved in the mess that I created"

He closed his eyes.

"And I never meant for my granddaughter to carry the burden of finishing this" he said.

"How I wish they would forgive me and my stupidity"

Mickey looked at his friend sadly.

He knew that Ansem loved his daughter very much, but he just didn't know how to show it.

"_If only he could have shown his love before" _he thought.

"_Then none of this would have happened"_

The machine started to shake more violently within Ansem's hands and started to produce sparks.

"Ansem! The machine!" Mickey cried.

Ansem smiled weakly.

"All the more proof that hearts cannot be contained by data" he said.

He looked at Mickey.

"Run my friend!" he warned.

"It's going to self-destruct, and anything can happen"

Mickey looked torn. He just couldn't leave his friend behind while this machine blew up. But he had to return to the others for the final battle.

Oh, the heart could be so cruel at times.

"But…"

"You're Majesty!" Hikari cried.

Everyone quickly ran up to where they were and saw Ansem trying to contain the machine.

Taiyouko had hatred in her eyes as she looked at her father. It was his fault that all of this happened. If he hadn't went and tried to study the workings of the hearts, then none of this would have happened.

Hikari stood there in shock as she looked at her grandfather. This was the first time that she saw him in person since she remembered him. He still looked the same as he did when she was little.

"Grandpa…" she breathed.

Ansem smiled weakly, glad that his granddaughter acknowledged him. Even if his daughter hated him, at least his granddaughter loved him.

"_She looks just like her mother" _he thought.

"_But she has Laguna's spirit" _

"Hikari, Sora, the rest is up to you…" he said.

He looked away sadly.

"And Ankoku…Roxas…I doubt you could hear me, but…I am sorry"

Taiyouko scoffed.

"It's a little too late to apologize to them" she said.

"You didn't care what happened to them in the beginning so why are you apologizing now? They were just pawns in your plans…just like everyone else that you've encountered"

Ansem looked at his daughter sadly.

He figured that she would think so poorly of his actions. As she should be. He was such a poor parent to her, he wouldn't put it against her if she hated him and wished he was dead.

But even if she hated him, he would always love her.

Because she was his only daughter.

And he had to let her know that.

"Taiyouko" he said.

"I'm sorry…for everything. You were right. I shouldn't have started this research on the hearts. I shouldn't have taken Xehanort as an apprentice. I shouldn't have said those horrible things to you. I loved you since the moment you were born and I'm so proud to call you my daughter. It never mattered to me that you were a sorceress. I'm sorry I was a failure as a parent to you. You've shown me that you're a better parent to your children than I ever was to you…than I ever _could _be. Please forgive me for being the fool for dragging you into this and not doing anything to fix it. I'm so sorry from the bottom of my heart"

Taiyouko was stunned when she heard her father say this. She never thought in a million years that he would apologize to her for the way that he treated her. Either something changed in him after she last saw him or this was what he really felt.

But even though it touched her, she wasn't going to forgive him so easily.

She had angry tears in her eyes as she looked at him.

"You expect me to forgive you after all this time?" she asked.

"You think that by apologizing now, everything will be ok? You're more insane than I thought you were"

Ansem smiled weakly. He knew that she forgave him, but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of actually saying it.

"I suppose I deserve that" he said.

"You damn right you do" Taiyouko scoffed.

Ansem was about to say something, but the machine started acting up some more.

"Ansem!" Mickey cried.

Ansem the Wise looked at his friend.

"My heart is telling me what I must do" Ansem said.

"Please allow me to do what it says!"

Mickey looked at him sadly. He didn't want his friend to die for them. He had just been reunited with him after so long. He didn't want it to end like this.

"But…"

He jumped a little when he felt Riku place his hand on his shoulder.

"Riku"

Riku gave him a sad look.

"His heart's decided" he said.

"We can't change that"

Mickey hung his head in defeat. It seemed that there really wasn't anything he could do to stop this. He had to accept his friend's decision and let him do what his heart demanded.

Their sad, tender moment was interrupted when Xemnas suddenly appeared.

It was obvious that he would find out Kingdom Hearts being messed with and now he decided to see who was doing it.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts" he said.

He looked at the group with a cruel smirk.

"And look- here you all are. How convenient for me"

Hikari growled. Now that she knew that Xemnas really wasn't her father, she just wanted to rip his throat out. How dare he pretend to impose as her father and use her for his goals? How dare he use his mother as a mere pawn to create Kingdom Hearts? How dare he try to use Riku as his next host?

He was going to pay.

Taiyouko was thinking the same thing as she balled her hands into fists.

It had been so long since she saw Xehanort like this and all of her hatred for him simply over took her. She was tempted to kill him right here and now, but she didn't even have half the strength she used to.

Xemnas smiled cruelly as he looked at her.

"Ah, Taiyouko" he said.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other? You still look the same as when I last saw you"

Taiyouko went to lunge forward, but Riku held her back while Hikari stood in front of her protectively.

"I still see that you haven't changed either" she hissed.

"You're still the same, cold, arrogant, heartless of a man who will use anyone to reach his goals"

Xemnas laughed darkly.

"Of course you would think that" he said.

"After all, you would know firsthand of what it's like to be nothing more than a tool"

Taiyouko went to lunge at him again, but Riku kept a firm grip on her.

Xemnas looked at his old mentor and couldn't help but shake his head at the sight.

"Ansem the Wise" he stated.

"You look pathetic"

Ansem closed his eyes, knowing that what his former apprentice said was true. He did look pathetic. And it was because he let things get out of hand.

"Have your laugh" he said.

"I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are"

"Students do take after their teachers" Xemnas admitted.

"Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you. YOU are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared"

Ansem sighed weakly.

"I admit…my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one" he admitted.

"But what were YOU seeking? You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue things better left forgotten"

He glared at his former pupil.

"You, who dragged my daughter into this mess and nearly sacrificed my granddaughter just to open the heart of all worlds. Is this the answer you've been looking for?"

Xemnas smirked darkly.

"All that and more" he said.

"And it wasn't like you ever cared what happened to your daughter and granddaughter. You never bothered to associate with them or considered them as your family. You just gave them the cold shoulder and acted like they weren't even there. You didn't even realize that your daughter was with someone as dangerous as me. The only heartless person here is you"

Ansem cringed when he heard that.

He knew that shunning Taiyouko as if she were a monster was his greatest sin. If only he had noticed what Xehanort was up to, then perhaps his family wouldn't have been caught up in this.

"I'm carrying on what you yourself began, and creating a brand new world, one heart at a time" Xemnas explained.

"I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back. I understand, though. Unlike me, you have a heart. And you're powerless to control it. Consumed, by the jealousy you feel toward the student who surpassed you"

Ansem closed his eyes.

"Xehanort" he said.

"Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing-only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant- as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid that any world you try to create…any world of yours…would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall! We've said enough!"

He looked at Riku.

"Riku, you know what to do!"

Riku nodded his head solemnly.

Even though he didn't see eye to eye with him, he was willing to help him through until the end. After all…he owed him for waking Hikari and Sora up.

Ansem looked at his daughter one last time.

"I know you'll protect Hikari to the very end" he said.

"I'm proud to call you my daughter. I've always have"

Taiyouko didn't say anything and just looked away. She knew if she did, she would cry.

Finally, Ansem looked at Mickey. He was glad to be able to see his friend, but now they had to part ways.

"King Mickey, my friend, forgive me!" he said.

"Farewell!"

The machine finally gave out and engulfed everyone in a bright light as it exploded .

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Riku held everyone back from the shockwave of the explosion.

The machine wasn't able to turn Kingdom Hearts into data, but it was able to leave a very nasty hole in it.

Hearts rain down from the sky and lured the heartless towards the castle.

Ansem the Wise may have started all of this, but thanks to his device, he was able to give the group the winning end towards this battle.

With Kingdom Hearts in shambles, there was nothing Xemnas could do.

/

Everyone was on the ground when the explosion subsided.

Hikari groaned as she slowly sat up to check her surroundings.

Nobody appeared to be hurt, so that was good.

Everyone looked normal and didn't appeared to have been effected by the machine.

Well…almost everyone.

Hikari whipped her head around when she heard Sora gasp.

"Riku!" he cried.

Hikari panicked.

Did Riku get hurt from the explosion? He used himself as a shield for everyone, so it could have been possible.

Fearing that her boyfriend could be seriously hurt, she bolted up and searched for him through the group.

She spotted the black coat right away, but what she saw when she looked at him took her breath away.

There, laying on the ground was Riku as his normal self.

He didn't look like Xehanort's heartless anymore and had the tanned skin and white hair.

Instead, he had the slightly tanned skin and silvery blue hair. It was a bit longer than before, but it still made him look handsome.

Hikari couldn't believe her eyes.

Riku was back to normal. He wasn't cursed to look like the man that nearly ruined his life. He was cured.

Everyone was just as shock to see him like this as she was.

"Riku…" Taiyouko breathed.

She was so happy that her daughter's sweetheart was back to normal.

Hikari quickly skidded in front of Riku and helped him up.

Riku groaned as he slowly sat up and faced everyone.

He had a blindfold covering his eyes, but that didn't matter. He was alright.

Everyone was so happy, that they couldn't contain themselves.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

Riku looked confused for a moment, but when he realized what he could feel the blindfold over his face, he knew that he changed as well.

He couldn't cover the startled gasp that escaped his lips.

Taiyouko smiled as she had a few tears in her eyes.

He was like a son to her, so she acted like any mother would when she saw that her child was alright.

But the question was, how did he change back.

"But how?" Tsukiko asked.

Mickey knew how this happened and couldn't help but thank Ansem.

"Ansem did say anything could happen" he said.

They all looked at the spot where Ansem once stood.

The man who started this madness was gone, along with his machine. It seemed that when the machine exploded, it not only destroyed Kingdom Hearts, it caused Riku to change back to his normal self.

It was a huge sacrifice, but a noble one.

Taiyouko wiped the tears from her eyes when she realized that she was crying for her father.

"Why am I crying?" she asked herself.

"He treated me so horribly growing up, so why am I sad that he's gone? He never cared for me. I should be happy that he's gone. So why am I…?"

Tsukiko gripped her shoulder.

"Because he's your father" she said.

"And even if he treated you badly and ignored you, he was still an important part of your life"

Taiyouko wiped her eyes.

"Stupid old man" she muttered.

"You got what you deserve"

Sora and Hikari looked at Riku to see that he still had the blindfold covering his eyes.

They wondered why he would still have it on, even though he was back to normal.

"Riku, you gonna take that off?" Sora asked.

"Oh…" Riku said softly.

Slowly, he removed the blindfold from his eyes.

When he slowly opened to reveal oceanic blue eyes, Hikari couldn't stop the tears that pool in her own.

Oh, how she missed those beautiful blue eyes. She could look at them all day and never got bored at the color. It was thanks to these eyes that made her fall in love with him.

It was like the ocean was trapped within them.

Riku couldn't believe that he was actually seeing everyone with his own eyes. He thought that he would be stuck as Xehanort's heartless forever and he accepted that. But now that he was really him, he wanted to bask everything in and see everything with his own eyes.

And of course the first thing that he saw was Hikari. Now that he could see her as himself, he wanted to bask in her beauty and commit it to memory.

She still looked breath taking.

That ivory colored skin. That heart shaped face. That rich brown hair. That vibrant smile. And of course, those beautiful emerald eyes.

He smiled when he saw the joy in Hikari's eyes. It seemed that she was just as happy as he was that he was back to normal.

Hikari couldn't help herself and threw herself in his arms. Riku stumbled a little, but he held her tightly to him. Basking in this moment of holding her in his real body with his real arms.

Hikari buried her face in his chest while he buried his face in her hair.

It was like a fairy tale moment. The princess was back in her knight's arms. Everything was perfect. They were perfect.

It was like a dream come true.

Kairi and Taiyouko gushed over the scene while Donald rolled his eyes. Goofy tried to cover up his smirk while Mickey and Tsukiko just smiled.

Sora smiled as well. He was glad that Hikari was finally able to be with Riku in his normal state. She deserved this moment after all she been through in their journey.

He picked up the blindfold that Riku dropped and examined it.

"What was this for?" he asked.

Hikari looked up at Riku, wanting to know as well.

Why would he cover his eyes like that.

Mickey stepped in and explained it to them.

"His eyes couldn't lie" he said.

Hikari tilted her head.

"Lie?" she repeated.

Sora gave his best friend a sly smirk.

"And just who were you trying to fool?" he asked.

"Huh? Huhhh?"

Riku looked away shamefully.

"Myself" he said.

Hikari looked at him sadly.

It seemed that he what happened very seriously and was willing to blame himself. Even going so far as to shouldering the burden on his own.

"_Oh Riku" _she thought.

She cupped his face in her hand and made him look at her.

"Riku…" she said.

"Why did you try to do so much on your own?"

Sora smiled and gestured to everyone around them.

"You've got friends…like us!" he said.

Everyone gave him a gentle smile and nodded in encouragement.

Hikari smiled as well.

"You shouldn't have done everything on your own" she said.

"We would have been more willing to help you out"

She suddenly recalled about the promise he forced Mickey to make.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me"

She went up to him and punched hard in the chest.

Riku doubled over as he held his ribs. He cringed at the force from Hikari's punch. Who knew that she had such an arm on her?

Hikari glared at him and crossed her arms.

"That's for making the King keep quiet about you" she snapped.

"How could you do that to me? Didn't you realize how worried sick I was about you? I thought you were seriously hurt. I didn't know if you were even alive or not!"

Riku rubbed his side as he tried to ward off the pain.

"I didn't want to worry you about what happened to me" he rasped.

"I was more worried about _not _knowing what happened to you!" Hikari retorted.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! "

Riku stood up properly and looked at Hikari. He could see how upset she was about this. He never meant to hurt her, but he didn't want to worry her through her travels.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"I didn't mean to hurt you like that, but I didn't want to worry you so much. I thought you not knowing what happened to me would be for the best, but it seems like I was wrong. Forgive me"

Hikari gave him a harsh look for a moment, then went up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Don't you ever do something like that again" she said.

Riku smiled slightly and hugged her in return.

"I promise" he said.

Taiyouko giggled at the scene.

"You know that you deserved that" she said.

Riku gave her a dull glare.

"I don't need lip from you right now" he said.

Taiyouko just waved a finger at him.

"I told you that this would happen if you kept your mouth shut" she warned.

"But did you listen to me? Nope!"

Riku sweat dropped. He respected Taiyouko as a friend an ally, but she could be too much for him.

"You're not helping" he said.

Taiyouko shrugged.

"I'm just stating the obvious" she said.

"After all: Mother knows best"

Riku was about to say something, but he looked up when he saw Kingdom Hearts reacting.

It seemed that the machine really did a number on it and now it was starting to break apart. That meant, trouble was just up ahead.

"Uh-oh" Donald said.

"That's doesn't look good" Tsukiko said.

Sora looked at Riku.

"What should we do, Riku?" he asked.

"We must defeat Xemnas" Riku said.

"He's the Organization's last survivor"

Everyone nodded at that.

"Then let's go" Tsukiko said.

Riku nodded and pulled his black jacket off.

Hikari practically drooled as she took in his denim jeans and the yellow vest, covering a black one.

If he looked sexy before in just a black jacket, he looked drop dead gorgeous now.

Riku smirked when he saw Hikari blush.

"Like what you see?" he asked.

Hikari blushed some more, but nodded.

"I might" she said.

Riku went up to her and held her hand tightly.

"Let's go" he said.

Hikari nodded.

"Right"

They all started heading further into the castle.

Taiyouko followed behind, but stopped to look at the spot where her father once stood.

Even though she hated him for neglecting her all those years, she couldn't help, but feel remorse for what happened.

It seemed that even though she would never forgive him for being a failure as a parent to her, she would still love him.

"_You may have sucked at being a father" _she thought.

"_But I guess after today, I can say that I was proud to have you as my dad"_

She turned around and followed after everyone.

It was time to settle the score with the man who ruined everything for her.

/

**A/N: Yay! Riku's back to normal! And Hikari got her revenge on him. I'm sure a good 'Falcon punch' did the trick. Never mess with an emotional girlfriend.**

**And it seemed in the end, Taiyouko was able to reconcile with her father in a way.**

**Please tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	50. Doing what our hearts command

Chapter 50: Doing what our hearts command

**A/N: Riku's back to normal! I'm sure everyone is happy about this. The sad part is that there are only a few more chapters left to this story. I know you're all sad, but just remember that there are more stories to this series.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari practically had a skip to her step as she walked through the castle. Riku was back in his original body and he looked as handsome as ever.

She was so relieved that he didn't have to suffer anymore. It tore her heart, knowing that he went through so much and sacrificed a lot for her.

But then again, it showed how much he really loved her. The fact that he did so much for her and was willing to change his appearance for her showed that he truly, deeply loved her.

And that simply sent her on cloud 9.

She smiled and buried her face against his arm as they walked. He really was her knight in shining armor.

Riku looked at her for a moment and smiled before resting his head on top of hers. He was relieved that he was in his regular body as well. Now it wouldn't be so weird to see a much older guy being with a much younger girl.

They could finally be lovers now.

They held each other's hands as they walked further into the castle. Now that they were back together like this, they never wanted to be apart. It was as if they let go of each other, they may never see each other again. And that was something none of them wanted.

They made it to the area known as Ruin and Creator's Passage before they had to stop. It seemed that parts of the floor were missing and only a few pillars stood out.

"Great. Now what do we do?" Tsukiko asked.

"Maybe we could jump from pillar to pillar?" Goofy suggested.

"Have you not seen how far apart these pillars are?" Kairi asked.

"We'll just fall to the bottom before we reach any of them" 

"There has to be some sort of trick to this room" Mickey said.

"Why else would Xemnas create it?"

"Do you think we have to make another bridge like we did when we tried to enter the castle?" Sora asked.

Riku shook his head.

"That would be way too easy" he said.

"Xemnas is a lot clever than that"

As they were talking amongst themselves, Taiyouko grew curious of the enchanted room, and slowly walked towards the edge.

She peered down at the bottom to see how deep it was then looked at the pillars. If she knew Xemnas well enough (which she did) she would wager a guess that he made this room to throw off any intruders that would interfere with his Kingdom Hearts. He was always good at tricking people so obviously he made this room to trick people.

Raising an eyebrow, she slowly stepped towards the edge and lowered her foot on the open space. And just as she suspected, once her foot hit the open air, clear panels appeared in the air and connected to the next pillar.

Everyone stopped their bickering when they saw this happened.

"Well…I guess that fixes our problem" she said.

"Now all we have to do is go forward"

Since the pathway was so narrow, everyone had to walk two at a time.

Sora, Riku and Hikari went first since they were the keyblade masters while Donald, Goofy and King Mickey followed and Taiyouko, Tsukiko and Kairi took the rear.

Hikari peered over the edge of the path and gulped when she saw how deep it was. One wrong move and everyone would be saying goodbye for a while.

Riku gripped her hand softly and gave her a reassuring look.

"I won't let anything happen to you" he said.

"I promise"

Hikari smiled softly at his words and let him lead her on towards the next pillar.

Nobodies were waiting for them when they got there and they happened to be the strong kind.

Hikari growled in frustration. Even though she recovered from her last chest attack, she still didn't have her strength back. There was no way that she would be able to fight these nobodies while she was like this.

Riku suddenly stepped forward and gently pushed her back.

"Leave this to me" he said.

"You've done enough fighting, so now it's my turn"

She watched at Riku summoned his keyblade and joined with Sora, Donald and Goofy into the fight.

Hikari noticed that he was no longer wielding the Soul Eater like he did before. Instead, he had a keyblade that resembled it with the bat like wing for the blade and had part of it as the hilt. The only difference was that the tip and the other half of the hilt resembled angel wings.

Despite it looking dark and scary, Hikari thought it was really beautiful. It was as if it represented Riku and his powers. While he may have sided with the darkness in the beginning, he was now starting to side with the light. He was siding with her.

Riku slashed through the nobodies like it was child's play. Since he was the best fighter on the islands, it made sense that he would be able to fight he enemies with ease.

It seemed that he picked up a few tricks while he was traveling with Taiyouko as well. He was able to cast magic known as Dark Canon and blast the nobodies away while protecting his friends using the Dark Shield.

Everyone was amazed by Riku's skills and powers. It seemed that he prepared for the final battle as well.

Taiyouko smirked knowing that this was all for Hikari. Riku pretty much begged her to teach him how to use magic so he could protect Hikari better.

"_She shouldn't be the only one fighting" _he would say.

"_This is as much of my fight as it is hers. I want to protect her the best that I can"_

And seeing him fight was proof of that. It just showed how powerful lover really was.

Kairi looked around as they made their way up to the top. She knew that she really couldn't fight off the nobodies so the best thing she could do was keep an eye out.

As she looked up towards the windows, she gasped in horror.

Flowing from the windows were mass hordes of heartless. They just seemed to drip down the sides and land of the platforms leading to the upper floor. It seemed that they too, wanted a part of Kingdom Hearts.

Kairi trembled when she saw them coming closer. This was not good, not good at all.

"Sora! Riku! Hikari!"

The keyblade masters ran over to where Kairi was and paled when they saw how many heartless there were.

"There's going to be no end to this" Riku said.

Sora wore a determined look.

"Together we can stop 'em!" he said.

Riku and Hikari smirked at that.

"I guess a little warm up couldn't hurt" Hikari said.

But before they could even do anything, Maleficent and Pete suddenly appeared before them.

"Leave these creatures to us!" Maleficent declared.

Hikari quickly panicked and stood protectively in front of Riku. There was no way that she was going to let this witch take him away from her again. Not while she was around.

Maleficent saw this and scoffed.

"I'm not after your 'precious' lover" she spat.

"He is of no use to me anymore"

Riku looked touched that Hikari was trying to protect him, even when she knew that she didn't have a change against her right now.

Hikari glared at her.

"I'm not taking my chances with you" she hissed.

Maleficent smirked darkly.

"Just like your mother"

She looked at Taiyouko.

"Ah, speak of the devil. She's already here"

Taiyouko glared at her old enemy.

"My Maleficent, you sure haven't changed" she said.

"But then again, I don't recall seeing you with wrinkles or those crow's feet. I guess time is finally catching up with you"

Maleficent growled at her.

"Watch your tongue you infernal witch" she spat.

"You may be still alive, but you're just a shell to what you once were. I can destroy you with ease"

Taiyouko laughed and gave her a rueful smile.

"Oh? And this is coming from the witch who was beaten by a little girl? My daughter none the less?"

Maleficent growled and gripped her staff tightly.

Pete gulped when he saw the heartless getting closer and started to become the chicken that he was.

"There's no way we can take 'em all!" he insisted.

Maleficent shook her head at his foolishness.

"I will be sending them to Xemnas" she explained as she gestured to the group.

"Or perhaps you would like to fight them yourself?"

Pete paled drastically when he realized he would have to fight the heartless by himself pretty much.

There was no way that he was going to do that. He pretty much used up all of his nine lives and he didn't want to waste this one.

"Frankly my dear, I'd rather…RUN!" he said.

Maleficent scoffed.

"Off with you then!" she snapped.

Pete gulped and started to walk away, but he stopped when he saw Mickey. It had been a long time since he saw the king of Disney Castle.

"Well, if it ain't the boat-boy king" he said.

He should have been furious with him. It was because of him that he was banished from his world to begin with. But when he saw the cheerful look on the King's face, he couldn't help but feel glad to see a positive face in a place like this.

Mickey smiled up at his former captain.

"Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete!" he said.

Pete snorted at his old title being mentioned.

"What, like 'abandon ship'?" he asked.

"I don't think so!"

Maleficent looked at the keyblade masters.

"Hikari, 'Your Majesty'. Do not forget-" Maleficent said.

"When I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!"

Hikari gave her a dull look. She was surprised that she was helping them with the heartless, but she didn't let it show.

"Yeah, well as long as you don't take over my world again, I could care less" Hikari said.

"Opportunities like this don't come along every day, ya know" Pete said.

He quickly went back to Maleficent and faced the heartless. His fears from moments before suddenly gone.

"Bring 'em on!"

The two of them quickly went down the ramp and faced the heartless.

"We gotta hurry" Mickey said.

Sora looked at him sadly. Sure, he hated Maleficent and Pete just as much as everyone else, but sending them off on their own like that tugged at his heartstrings.

Mickey gave him a serious look.

"They're doing what their hearts command" he said.

"We can't interfere"

Tsukiko gripped his shoulder.

"They gave us the chance to reach Xemnas without any interruptions" she said.

"You take what you can get"

Sora nodded sadly.

There was nothing that he could do but move forward.

Everyone looked at Maleficent and Pete one last time before they headed for the top of the castle.

The end was near.

/

**A/N: Next up is Xemnas vs. Hikari! Will she finally get her revenge on the man who lied to her? The man who claimed to be her father, only to use her as a pawn and make her life miserable?**

**You'll just have to review to find out.**

**I know this chapter wasn't much, but I wanted to save the fighting for the next chapter. That way I'm not mashing things together.**

**Please tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	51. Against Nothingness

Chapter 51: Against Nothingness

**A/N: 500 reviews? Wow, that is so awesome! I never expected this story to get 500 reviews. Thank you all so much!**

**Also, just a heads up, I won't be able to update as much as I had hoped since I finally got a job. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I have free time.**

**We've finally come to one of the fights you've all been waiting for: Hikari vs. Xemnas! Will Hikari finally get her revenge against Xemnas? You'll just have to read to find out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari was on pins and needles when they reached the top of the castle. She knew that just up these steps, Xemnas would be there. She knew that this would be the end of her long journey. This would be the end of all the madness. This would be the end of her suffering. Once she defeated Xemnas, then the darkness within her heart would be gone. She wouldn't have to feel pain anymore and she could have to cough darkness up. She would be a normal princess of light.

She started to bolt up the stairs, but Riku held her back.

"Don't rush into things" he said.

"You don't know what Xemnas is capable of"

Hikari gave him an annoyed look.

"But I can't take it anymore" she said.

"I want Xemnas to be gone for good. I want the darkness in my heart to be gone. I want everything to go back to the way that it was before. I want to finish this!"

Riku sighed wearily. He knew how much she wanted to end this fight. Heck, he wanted to end it just as much as she did. He wanted to be rid of the man who pretty much turned him into a vessel of darkness and was willing to see him die, just so his dream could come true.

But he knew acting reckless would get them nowhere.

"I know you want this to end" he said.

"But jumping into a situation without even knowing it isn't a good idea. You don't know Xemnas' powers and you don't know how he fights. Don't jump into this without thinking first"

Sora patted her back.

"He's right" he said.

"Plus, you're not the only who wants to see him gone. We all came here to finish this. We all fought together up until now. Don't fight this alone. We're here to support you"

Hikari looked at everyone to see them smiling at her. They were willing to fight alongside her until the end. They wanted to finish this just as much as she did. They were all in this together.

Hikari smiled softly. She never realized how lucky she was to have such wonderful friends until now. She wouldn't have to get her revenge against Xemnas on her own. She would have her friends and Riku to back her up.

"Thanks you guys" she said.

"This really means a lot to me"

Riku went up to her and laced his fingers with hers.

"We're here for you, no matter what" he said.

Hikari smiled softly at him. Even if she was way over her head with this, she was glad to know that Riku was here to protect her.

"Let's finish this" Taiyouko said.

Everyone quickly ran up the stairs to what would be their final battle.

/

Xemnas looked up at his ruined Kingdom Hearts. Thanks to Ansem the Wise's interference, he would never be able to fulfill his plans. All that hard work seemed to have gone down the drain.

"Oh…My Kingdom Hearts…ruined" he said.

"Now I'll have to start all over again"

He turned around to see everyone facing him. Hikari, Sora, Riku and Mickey facing him, knowing that they were the only ones who could stop him. But then again, they were also the ones who started all of this. Since they released the hearts that the heartless captured, they were the ones who made Kingdom Hearts. Their roles in this madness were like a double edged sword. A sword that Xemnas planned to use.

"Warriors of the Keyblade!" he declared.

"Go forth, and bring me more hearts!"

The keyblade masters glared at him and aimed their keyblades him.

"No!" they declared.

Xemnas gave them an emotionless stare. It seemed that he would have to do this the hard way.

"Denizens of light, answer this: why do you hate the darkness?" he asked.

Mickey lowered his keyblade slightly.

"Aw, we don't hate it" he said.

"It's just kinda…scary. But the world's made of light AND darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything. Sorta makes you wonder why we're scared of the dark"

"It's because of who's lurking inside" Riku said darkly.

Nobody noticed how he stepped closer to Hikari in case Xemnas pulled anything.

"Then allow me another question" the Organization leader said.

"You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark- never given a choice?"

Hikari growled. He was acting like he was the victim here when he was the one who started all of this.

"You had choice!" she snapped.

"You chose to rip your heart out and plunge yourself into darkness. You brought this upon yourself! You wanted to make your horrid dream come true and this is your price"

Xemnas looked at her for a moment as if contemplating on what to do with her.

He suddenly broke into a cruel smirk.

"I'm 'hurt', Hikari" he said.

"You would go against your own father?"

"You're not my dad!" Hikari shouted.

"You were just some stranger who came into my mother's life and made everything a living hell for her! You used us as if were merely pawns! You didn't care about us at all! You just saw us as simple tools to help you reach your goal"

Her emerald eyes harden with hatred as she faced the imposter that claimed to be her dad all those years ago.

"And I bet you knew that I forgot everything in the past" she said.

"Why else would you act as if you were my dad all this time and make me feel horrible?"

Xemnas didn't say anything for a moment. He bowed his head slightly and broke out into a fit of laughter. It caused chills to run up everyone's spine at the sound of it.

Xemnas looked back at Hikari with a cruel look in his eyes.

"You catch on rather quickly" he said.

"And here I hoped that you would help me complete Kingdom Hearts"

"As if I would ever do such a thing" Hikari spat.

"All you do is bring ruin to others"

Xemnas went into the victim role.

"Now why would you say that?" he asked.

"Surely you know I never meant for this to happen. Why hate me when I never had a choice in the matter?"

"That's simple" Riku said.

"It's because you mess up our worlds"

Xemnas glared at him. He knew he should have done something to that boy a while ago. It was thanks to him that most of his plans were ruined.

"That may be…" he admitted.

"However, what other choice might we have had?"

"Just give it a rest!" Sora snapped.

"You're nobodies! You don't even exits! You're not sad about anything!"

Xemnas laughed darkly.

"Very good. You don't miss a thing" he said.

"I cannot feel-sorrow…no matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, what you feel, or who you exist"

With that, the scenery around them changed.

Hikari looked around to see that she was standing in front of Memory Skyscraper and that she was all alone.

"Guys?" she called out.

"Riku?"

"Hikari!"

Sora quickly ran towards her and noticed that he was in the same situation as Hikari.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head.

"I don't know"

They looked at the skyscraper and saw Xemnas standing in front of it.

"Behold the power of nothingness" he said.

He summoned up his eternal blades and aimed one at them.

Hikari glared darkly at him. She knew this would probably be the only time that she would fight Xemnas. There was no turning back now and there would be no second chance.

It was now or never.

"Sora" she said.

She summoned her main keyblade and her Oblivion keyblade.

"He's mine"

Sora gulped. He knew that there was no way that he could stop Hikari now. This was her moment to defeat Xemnas and she was going to let it happen no matter what.

The only thing he could do was help her out as best as he could.

"If this stretches out for too long, I'm stepping in" he said.

"Riku would kill me if I let anything happen to you"

Hikari nodded without looking at him.

"Got it"

She stepped forward and faced Xemnas.

Xemnas chuckled when he saw the serious look on her face.

"Oh quant" he said.

"You think you have what it takes to defeat me?"

Hikari aimed her Oblivion keyblade at him.

"I don't _think _so, I _know _so" she said.

Xemnas just aimed one of his eternal blades at her.

"You're out of your league, Hikari" he said.

"Your mother isn't here to save you this time and your knight is nowhere to be seen"

Hikari got into a fighting stance.

"Who said I needed to be saved?" she asked.

"This time, I'm doing the saving!"

Xemnas just laughed.

"Come and try"

Hikari didn't hesitate to attack first as she launched herself at him. If she wanted to get the upper hand in this battle, then she had to move first.

Xemnas just toyed with her and she sent a barrage of attacks at her. He just ducked and dodged her swings while setting up shields when she managed to actually get a hit on him.

"You are no match for me" he stated.

"We'll just see about that" Hikari retorted.

She cast spell after spell on him. She didn't know which would cause him the most damage, but she was going to find out.

Xemnas kept his guard up as he fought with Hikari. True, she was just a young girl who was no match against his powers. But she was also a sorceress and that meant she had more magic than anyone, even him. He wasn't going to be defeated by Taiyouko's daughter. He would turn into a Dusk before he let that happen.

When he sensed that Hikari was gaining the upper hand, he summoned a dark ring and had it surround her.

Hikari instantly felt her energy getting zapped from her as the ring kept wrapping itself around her.

Sora quickly ran over and cut the ring in half.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari nodded.

"I'm fine, but where's Xemnas?"

Sora looked around the area and at the skyscraper.

"There he is!"

He pointed towards the top where Xemnas watched them.

Hikari growled and ran up to the skyscraper and ran up the long building. It almost felt like she had done this before a while ago, but she shook that thought aside and quickly faced Xemnas. She wasn't going to let him get away with this.

Xemnas jumped off the ledge when he saw how close she was getting.

When they managed to see each other face to face, there was so much hatred in their eyes. Hikari's for being lied and used by this monster. Xemnas because Hikari was a thorn in his side and was the one who would ruin his plans.

Xemnas went to strike her with one of his blades, but Hikari was faster. She blocked it with her keyblade and slammed Oblivion into his side. She flipped over him and slammed her foot into his back before sending a flying kick into his chest and caused him to slam into the building.

Hikari smirked darkly at him before she landed on the ground.

Sora went up to her and held his keyblade out.

"This has gone on long enough" he said.

"I'm stepping in"

Hikari nodded.

"At least I managed to hit him first" she said.

Xemnas scowled when he saw that he had to fight not one keyblade master, but two now. Sure, they were no match for him, but this was getting ridiculous.

Sora went to the offensive side and attacked him head on while Hikari took the defensive and used her magic. Since physical fighting really wasn't her strongest skill, she was tired out already. That little attack she did really wore her out.

This gave the two of them the upper hand. While Sora was attacking Xemnas head on, the Organization leader could only block Sora's, but not Hikari's. Not only that, he was the only one who had control over this entire area.

He was at the losing end of this battle.

Having enough of this, he kicked Sora out of the way and sent him flying.

"Sora!" Hikari cried.

She charged at Xemnas, only to get knocked back as well.

Hikari groaned as she tried to get up. She gasped when Xemnas aimed one of his blades at her throat. The organization leader gave her a menacing look.

"It seems you've run out of steam" he said.

Hikari glared at him.

"This isn't over until I say it is" she said.

Xemnas laughed darkly.

"Just like your mother until the end" he said.

He raised his blade high over his head.

"Why don't you suffer the same fate as she did?"

Hikari raised her keyblade to block the blade. She was not going to die like this.

However, the blade never made contact. Instead, it hovered just a few inches from her face and was dangerously close to touching her.

Hikari looked up and was shocked to see Xemnas froze. What was even more surprising was the look on his face. It was almost as if he was scared of striking her.

Xemnas couldn't believe what he was seeing as he looked down at Hikari. Instead of seeing the keyblade mistress, he saw her back when she was four years old. Back when he was considered her father.

The younger Hikari smiled up to him and raised her arms out to him.

"_Daddy!"_

Xemnas dismissed his weapons and gripped his head. Why was he seeing this? Why were these memories coming back to him? He threw them all away when he surrendered his heart to the darkness. He no feelings towards the past.

And yet, when he saw the younger Hikari. His chest ached in the spot where his heart once was.

Letting out an anguished cry, he disappeared through a portal before more memories poured through his head.

Sora ran over to Hikari and helped her up.

"You ok?" he asked.

Hikari nodded and looked at the spot where Xemnas once stood.

"What just happened?" she asked.

Sora shrugged.

"I don't know" he said.

"One minute, he was about to strike you and in the next, he was freaking out"

Hikari rubbed the side that she landed on.

"Weird" she said.

Sora looked around the area and noticed that nothing changed.

"How do we get out of here?" he asked.

Hikari shook her head, showing that she didn't know.

Just then voices could be heard.

"_Sora! Hikari! Where are you?" _Kairi called out.

The area started to break up around them and sent them back to reality.

/

Everyone looked around the place for their friends. They panicked when they suddenly disappeared with Xemnas and feared for the worse.

Riku was silently panicking that Hikari was whisked away by Xemnas. With her up against the Organization's leader, he feared for the worse.

"Hikari! Answer me!" he called out.

Sora appeared through a portal and landed on the ground.

Everyone quickly rushed over towards him to see if he was alright.

"Where's Hikari?" Mickey asked.

Hikari appeared seconds later and fell through the portal as well.

Riku managed to catch her, but it resulted in him falling to the ground.

Hikari blushed at being held by Riku like this and quickly helped him up.

"Thank goodness you're both ok" Taiyouko said.

"You almost gave us heart attacks" Tsukiko added.

Sora looked around to see that everyone was ok. He was glad they weren't hurt, but he knew they weren't out of the woods yet.

"Where's Xemnas?" he asked.

Donald looked around and squawked when he saw the nobody hovering in front of Kingdom Hearts.

The heart shaped moon's magic seemed to surround the nobody as he summoned its power.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts!" he declared.

"It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words! You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power, so that we may by complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us"

Everyone panicked. If Xemnas joined with Kingdom Hearts, then things were going to get really bad really fast.

"Xemnas! No!" Mickey cried.

Xemnas just ignored them and kept on going.

"Hearts quivering with hatred…"

"Xehanort! Don't!" Taiyouko pleaded.

"Hearts burning with rage…"

"You'll never win!" Hikari cried.

"Hearts scarred by envy…that fool Ansem said that the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding. But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power! "

Kingdom Hearts glowed to the point that everyone had to cover their eyes.

When the light faded, Kingdom Hearts was back to normal, but Xemnas was nowhere to be seen.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora cried.

"We're not gonna let him get away now!" Mickey declared.

Kairi gasped and pointed towards the sky.

"Look at that!"

A magnificent door appeared out of nowhere and hovered in front of the heart shaped moon.

Hikari gasped when she saw it.

She recognized this door right away.

"Kingdom Hearts" Taiyouko breathed.

"Let's go" Riku said.

"Xemnas must be inside"

Mickey looked at the door solemnly.

"This worlds gave us this doorway" he said.

"They want us to be the guardians of their destiny!"

Hikari smiled softly. All of the friends that she made from her travels did this. They trusted her to protect their worlds. They knew she would be the one to end this.

"_Ni-san…Mikomi…everyone…" _she thought.

"_I won't let you down"_

Riku looked at the door. The last time that he saw this door, he had to stay on the other side and say goodbye to Hikari. But now, he was at her side. He was with her to see this battle to the end.

"Once we go through, there's no turning back" he said.

He looked at Sora and Hikari.

"So…are you ready?"

Hikari smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Let's finish this"

/

**A/N: And the end is drawing even closer! I know you're all upset by it, but everything must come to an end at some point. **

**If you want to see the next battle, please review soon!**

**Hoped you all love this! **

**Ja ne!**


	52. Victory or Oblivion

Chapter 52: Victory or Oblivion

**A/N: We're almost at the end. Only two more chapters and then the epilogue. I hope you're all excited for it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The four keyblade masters stood proudly in front of Kingdom Hearts. Thanks to their friends, they were able to get this door. They trusted them enough that they wanted them to be the fate of their worlds. They wanted them to protect their light.

And so, when Sora, Hikari, Riku and the King raised their keyblades, they made sure that they would make that promise come true.

They all pointed their keyblades at Kingdom Hearts then raised them to the sky. Beams of light shot from each keyblade and aimed towards the door. Slowly, but surely, Kingdom Hearts opened to them.

The final battle was about to begin.

"Get ready, Xemnas" Sora said.

"It all ends here!"

Hikari gripped Riku's hand tightly. She saw him get sealed up on the other side of this door and she was not going to let that happen again.

Riku gave her hand a squeeze as well, thinking the same thing.

"We fight side by side" he said.

Hikari smiled.

"Yeah"

They all slowly made it up the ramp and headed deep within the heart of all worlds.

/

The other side looked almost like the town to the Castle that Never Was. With Xemnas being connected to it and all, it would make sense. He controlled over nothingness, so he had control over what his domain would look like.

But that didn't matter to everyone. They came here to stop him and they weren't going to stop until they won.

Taiyouko looked around the area for the empty shell of the man who ruined her life. When she got her hands on him, he was going to wish that he never messed with her.

"Where are you?" she growled.

Hikari looked off into the distance and nearly yelped when she saw Xemnas standing on what looked like a mechanical looking dragon.

The superior nobody gave them a solemn look.

"So…it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration" he said.

"Perhaps it doesn't pay to be loyal too one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that"

He sent a building towards them in hopes of crushing them.

Everyone quickly ran out of the way and ducked just in time before it crashed to the ground.

Riku looked up and saw that Mickey, Kairi, Taiyouko and Tsukiko were on the other side of Kingdom Hearts.

He panicked when he saw the door closing.

"No!" he cried.

He didn't know if those doors were going to be closed for good. He didn't want Sora and Hikari to be stuck here in this realm.

Hikari gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze and smiled softly.

"Don't worry. We'll get back to them" she said.

"As soon as we defeat Xemnas, we'll see them"

Riku smiled softly at her words and nodded. He knew that she was just as scared as he was, but he admired her for putting on a brave front. It seemed this journey of her changed her.

Sora glared up at Xemnas and summoned his keyblade.

"We can take him on our own!" he said.

Riku and Hikari nodded and pulled out their keyblades as well.

Hikari looked at Donald and Goofy.

"Are you guys ready for a major beat down?" she asked.

The two of them nodded. They made it this far and they weren't backing down.

"Yeah! Let's finish this!" Donald cried.

That was just the answer that they were looking for.

They quickly ran through the maze of buildings and headed for Xemnas.

However, the Superior Nobody had appeared to see them coming, so he summoned up buildings to block their path.

That didn't stop Sora as he sliced right through them.

"Show off" Donald said.

Hikari snorted.

"You complaining?" she asked.

The magician shook his head and just followed after Sora.

They ran further towards the tower that Xemnas was on. It didn't matter to them that it was floating up in the sky and that it was guarded by a dragon like being; they were going to get to it.

Xemnas summoned up a couple of buildings and hurtled them towards them.

Hikari smirked as she got an idea and looked at Riku.

"Riku, give me a lift"

Riku held his hands out as step for her and watched as she jumped off and flipped through the air.

The keyblade mistress was just a blur of red and black as she hacked through the buildings and created a set of steps for everyone to jump on.

"How who's the show off?" Sora teased.

Riku just rolled his eyes and quickly followed after Hikari. There was no way that he was letting her go off on her own when Xemnas was around.

The others followed quickly and caught up with them when they landed in front of the main core of the dragon like structure.

"How do we reach Xemnas?" Goofy asked.

"We break down this thing down" Riku said.

"If we want to reach him, we'll have to break everything apart bit by bit"

Sora rubbed his head.

"That's cool and all, but how are we going to break a main core?" he asked.

"Does anyone know anything about mechanics or something?"

Just then heartless appeared to prevent them from going any further.

"Not again" Donald whined.

Hikari smirked darkly as she got an idea.

"I know how we can break this thing" she said.

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? How?"

Hikari summoned her keyblade.

"Like this!"

She ran up to a heartless and smacked it into the core where it reacted violently from it.

Hikari smirked.

"A couple more of these and this baby will go off like the Fourth of July" she said.

The guys just looked at her stunned. It amazed them how she could have such a violent mind.

But then again, it was helpful in these kind of situations.

They were grateful the Xemnas sent so many heartless to them because they were able to destroy the engines to the contraption. And just like Hikari said, they burst into flames.

They quickly climbed up to the top where they found the energy core to the dragon. Darkness seeped through it so badly that they could just sense Xemnas up ahead.

"I'm not going to let him get away with this!" Hikari hissed.

She used her most powerful spells on the core. If she wanted to end this, then she needed to pull out all of her aces. She knew that she wasn't nearly as strong as Xemnas but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She came this far with her strength alone and she was going to finish this.

She flipped out of the way when she landed a combo of physical attacks. She went to do it again, but Riku gripped her shoulder and stopped her.

"Let me take a stab at it" he joked.

Hikari smirked and stood next to him. It was nice to know that he was fighting alongside her this time and not against her. With Riku on their team, they were invincible.

The two of them got a little crafty with their attacks and performed the Eternal Session move on the core. They would cast magical and physical attacks on the core in such synchronized moves that it almost seemed as if they were dancing with each other. A beautiful yet deadly dance.

Hikari smiled when Riku caught her after she flipped through the air.

Even when they were fighting against the strongest nobody in the Organization, they still had time to be lovey-dovey with each other.

The main core broke down and opened up to them. Xemnas was just at their fingertips now.

They quickly ran through the core and made it to where Xemnas was.

The Nobody had ditched his Organization cloak and was now wearing a full set of armor that covered his entire body.

He sat on a massive thrown and looked as if he was expecting them.

"Cursed fools" he said.

Hikari summoned the Oblivion keyblade and pointed it at him.

"You're the one who's the fool" she said.

Xemnas just summoned up a mighty sword the resembled a keyblade greatly and held it in front of him.

"Is that all you got?" Sora asked as he charged at him.

Xemnas just scoffed and summoned up a shield. Sora slammed into it face first and slowly slid to the ground.

"Idiot" Donald said.

"That's why you don't antagonize the enemy" Goofy said.

Sora just shook it off and jumped to his feet.

"Don't worry, that was nothing!" he said.

"I bet that's the only thing he can do"

Xemnas snapped his fingers and summoned up all of the weapons that were used from the fallen nobodies in the Organization.

A tick mark appeared on Hikari's forehead while Riku glared at Sora.

"Sora" he hissed.

"When this is over, I'm going to kill you with my bare hands"

Sora laughed nervously and dodged 'Xaldin's' lances before striking Xemnas.

Hikari jumped over 'Demyx's' water clones and joined in on attacking Xemnas. Since he was the one who made her life a living hell, she wanted to be the one who landed the finishing blow.

She ducked when Xemnas swung his sword at her and jabbed her keyblade into his chest.

The Nobody let out a strangled cry as he lost control over this realm in Kingdom Hearts.

Hikari smiled when she knew that she had one this battle.

At long last, it was finally over.

/

Everyone was thrown back to the castle when the battle stopped. Since Xemnas controlled the realm inside Kingdom Hearts, that meant once he was defeated, so would his realm.

The Nobody fell to his knees as he grabbed his chest. He never thought that a bunch of children would defeat him. He never expected Hikari to defeat him.

He had been careless. He thought that by combining himself with Kingdom Hearts would make him invincible.

There was only one way to fix that.

"I need…more rage…" he rasped.

"I need…more…hearts…"

Hikari sighed and dismissed her keyblade. She knew that Xemnas wouldn't be able to do anything.

But the fact that he was still talking about his goals, despite on the verge of fading away was pretty pathetic. He spent his whole life, even sacrificing himself, for Kingdom Hearts. He thought that he would need the negative feelings of the heart.

But he was wrong.

"Xemnas…" she said.

"There's more to a heart than just anger and hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings"

She looked at him sadly.

"Don't you remember?"

Xemnas sighed before looking up at her. He didn't know why this was happening to him now, but when he looked at her, he felt his chest sting. Perhaps this was an echo to what he used to felt when he had a heart. Perhaps this was the regret he felt from dragging her into this.

"Unfortunately…" he said.

"I don't"

Hikari sighed sadly.

"Should have known" she said.

Taiyouko bit her lip when she looked at Xemnas. Mustering up all the courage she had, she walked over to him.

Riku and Hikari got into a defensive stance in case anything happened, but it wasn't needed.

Xemnas looked up at the woman that he caused so much pain. The woman he desired so much that it ruined him in the end. The woman who made his goals come true, but fire back at him in the end.

Taiyouko looked at him with an emotionless stare. She had waited for this moment for such a long time. The time when she would get her revenge on the man who took everything from her.

She had planned it all out in her head a thousand times. Had thought out every single bit of detail to the point that it scared her.

But when she looked at his torn, defeated face, she knew that her plans were thrown out the window.

Why waste all her energy on such a weak, empty shell like him?

It was pointless, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to do anything.

Raising her hand, she swung her arm and slapped his face so hard that it could be heard echoing.

Xemnas' head jerked violently from the impact and stayed that way when she lowered her hand.

Angry tears fell from her face as she looked at him.

"After everything that you've done to me, you don't even have the honor of being hit by me" she said.

"This is what you get for being the pathetic empty shell that you are"

Xemnas shook his head and smirked slightly.

"You're one to talk" he said.

He lift his head up so he could look at her properly.

"But then again…you still have the same spirit as you did before I ruined you" he said.

"Maybe that's why you were able to defeat me"

Taiyouko glared at him.

"Kingdom Hearts will never be yours" she said.

"It doesn't matter what you do to obtain it, you'll get the same results. Now go vanish to the void that you came crawling out of and never come back again"

Xemnas chuckled as he started to break apart.

"You still have a fire burning deep within your heart" he said.

He gave her a rare, weak smile.

"Maybe that's why _he _loved you so much"

With that, he faded away.

Taiyouko closed her eyes to prevent the tears from coming. Even though she was glad that Xemnas was gone, she wished that Xehanort was never caught up in this. She didn't love him, but she always thought of him as a dear friend.

Tsukiko went up to her and gripped her shoulder.

"He's in a better place now" she said.

"Just be glad that it's over"

Taiyouko smiled weakly when she looked at the others.

"Yeah. It's over" she said.

/

Everyone was cheering when Xemnas vanished.

The battle was finally over. Xemnas was gone and the worlds were safe again. All was good.

"Gosh, you all did great" Mickey said.

Everyone was in high spirits…well, almost everyone.

Riku walked away from the group and looked off into the distance. Now that the battle was over, they could all go back to the islands. They could all go home.

But could he go back? After everything that he did, after giving into the darkness, he felt like he didn't deserved it. He didn't deserved to be with his friends, and he didn't deserve to be happy. He had to pay for his sins.

Sora and Hikari went over to him. They could sense the depressed mood that he was in, and they had to get him out of it.

"You're coming back with us…right?" Sora asked hopefully.

Riku shook his head shamefully.

"I had given into the darkness" he said.

Hikari looked at him sadly and gripped his hand.

"Riku" she said.

Riku sighed and looked at them sadly.

"How am I going to face everyone?"

Sora smiled and made a funny face.

"Like this"

Riku chuckled a little before laughing full heartedly.

Hikari smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

"No one knows what you did" she said.

"Besides, it's all in the past, so leave it that way. You learned your lesson"

She gave him a pouting look.

"And I worked so hard trying to find you" she said.

"I searched high and low. I had to fight very strong enemies and nearly got myself killed. Are you going to let my hard work go to waste? Because if you do, I'll just find you again"

Riku sweat dropped when he saw the look she was giving him. What she said hit the nail on the head. He didn't want her to risk her life trying to find him again. She almost died once and he didn't want to risk that again.

Sighing in defeat, he pulled her into a hug.

"You win" he said.

Hikari smirked when she realized she won. If there was one way to get what she wanted, it was to rub salt into an open wound.

Their happy moment was short lived when the castle started to shake. With Xemnas gone, then this world was starting to become unstable.

Mickey looked at the others in worry. He may have not fought most of the battles, but it was up to him to make sure everyone got out of here safely.

That was his duty as a King.

"Hurry!" he cried.

Riku nodded.

"I'll open a path" he said.

He went to open a dark portal, but was shocked when he couldn't.

"What?"

He looked at his hand in wonder. He was able to open up portals all the time, so why couldn't he now?

Taiyouko smiled softly and gripped his shoulder.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku" she said.

It made sense. When Riku regained his normal body, he lost all of the darkness that went with it. His sins were atoned for.

"But how do we get out of here?" Donald asked.

Taiyouko looked at Tsukiko.

"Can you open up a portal?" she asked.

Tsukiko shook her head sadly.

"I'm still drained from using my powers on Saix" she said.

"If I tried to open one up now, I would be dead"

Everyone hung their head in defeat.

They were done for.

Kairi looked up and gasped when she saw Namine. The Nobody was transparent, but she was still visible.

Hikari, Sora and Riku saw her as well and watched her in wonder. What was she up to?

Namine smiled softly and opened up a portal.

Donald and Mickey ran up to it; never seeing Namine.

"Who did this?" Donald asked.

Mickey shook his head.

"Welp. I'm not sure" he said.

"But we better hurry and get through"

Pluto barked as he ran around them and ran through the portal. (A/N: Where he was all this time is beyond me)

"Wait for me!" Goofy cried as he ran after the dog.

Mickey soon followed after, leaving Donald behind.

The magician looked at his human friends.

"C'mon!" he cried.

He quickly ran through the portal to join the others.

Namine appeared again when the rest of them went towards the portal.

Kairi smiled softly at her Nobody.

"Thank you, Namine" she said.

Namine smiled and nodded.

"Sure"

As Hikari looked at her closely, she realized that she knew her. She couldn't remember where she saw Namine, but she remembered that she met her. She remembered that they made a promise that they would see each other and that she would thank her for helping her out with something.

"Namine?" she asked.

She slowly approached the Nobody and studied her.

Namine bit her lip when Hikari looked at her. She didn't expect Hikari to remember her since she wiped herself out of her memories. It was the only for her to wake up. It tore her up inside, but she knew it had to be done.

But here Hikari was, looking at her as if she knew her. This was too good to be true.

Hikari smiled brightly when she realized that it really was her and laughed.

"It's really you!"

She grasped her hands; which she was surprised that she could do so and held them tightly.

"You're really here!" she cried.

"I'm so happy to see you!"

Sora raised an eyebrow when he saw Hikari acting this way. He never saw this girl, so he wondered why Hikari knew her.

"Hikari, do you know her?" he asked.

Hikari nodded without looking away at Namine.

"Yeah!" she said.

"She's a very dear friend of mine! She helped me out with something…although I can't really remember what it was."

She laughed nervously at that.

"I feel really bad about it, but I know I wanted to thank you for what you did"

She suddenly remembered the picture that she found when she woke up and pulled it out.

"Oh yeah! You were the one who drew this" she said.

Namine gasped when she saw that Hikari held onto the picture, despite forgetting where she got it.

Hikari laughed and held out her pinky; indicating their promise.

"I told you that we would see each other again." she said.

Namine felt tears pooling her eyes as she held up her pinky as well. She never thought in a million years that Hikari would remember her, and yet she did.

It made her feel so happy.

Hikari panicked when she saw her cry.

"H-hey, why are you crying?" she asked.

Namine smiled as she wiped her eyes.

"I'm just happy." she said.

She looked up at Taiyouko to see her mouthing 'I told you'.

The nobody smiled before she looked at Sora. She knew that he wouldn't remember her other their promise, but she was happy that he kept to it, despite forgetting. And because she knew that Roxas and Ankoku kept their promise to her as well.

"See? We meet again, like we promise" she said.

Sora raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Huh?"

Laughter could be heard around them as Roxas and Ankoku emerged from their somebodies. Sora and Hikari were shocked to see them in person like this.

"You said we'd meet again" Roxas.

"But when we did, we might not recognize each other" Ankoku finished.

Namine smiled softly.

"I did, didn't I?" she said.

The nobody twins nodded.

"But we knew you" Ankoku said.

Namine nodded.

"It's strange" she said.

Roxas smiled softly.

"I think we understand now" he said.

"We see ourselves the way you remember us"

"And you see yourself the way we remember you" Ankoku said.

Namine looked at the floor bashfully.

"I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness…" she said.

Ankoku laughed.

"Yeah, but we didn't" she said.

"We got to meet our original selves"

"So…we can be together again!" Namine cheered.

Roxas and Ankoku smiled.

"Yep. Anytime that Sora, Kairi and Hikari are together"

Kairi smiled.

"We'll be together everyday" she said.

"Right?"

Hikari smiled and nodded.

"Yep!"

"Uh, sure" Sora said bashfully.

Namine and Roxas smiled at their other halves before approaching them.

Kairi held her hand out to Namine and had her return to her.

Roxas chuckled when he saw the shocked look on his face.

"Look sharp!" he said.

He returned to Sora as well, finally returning the place where he was needed the most.

Sora looked at himself stunned, wondering what happened to him.

Riku chuckled a little.

"Don't worry, you're all still you" he said.

Sora smiled a little, then looked at Hikari, who was facing her nobody.

Hikari was stunned as she looked at Ankoku. She was looking at her other half; her other self. This was too good to be true. She always wanted to meet her nobody in the flesh and here she was doing so.

Ankoku smirked slightly, thinking the same thing. She didn't expect to see Hikari awake, but she was glad that she was. She finally got to meet her other self.

"A-are you Ankoku?" Hikari asked.

Ankoku laughed as she placed a hand on her hip.

"The one and only" she said.

"And let me say that I'm really happy to see you"

Hikari brought a hand over her mouth in shock. Her nobody was happy to see her.

She smiled as she got teary eyed.

"I'm so happy to see you too" she said.

Tsukiko cried when she saw Ankoku. She never thought that she would see her again. After she returned to Hikari, she thought she would be gone for good. And yet here she was. It seemed that maybe she didn't lose all of her loved ones.

"Ankoku!"

The young nobody smiled as she saw her best friend.

"Hey, Tsukiko" she said.

"I'm glad that you're still alive"

Tsukiko cried as she smiled at her.

"You're here!" she said.

"You're really here!"

Ankoku shrugged and looked at her transparent hand.

"Well, sort of" she said.

"I can't stay for long. I need to return to where I came from"

Tsukiko panicked when she heard that.

"No!" she cried.

"You can't go! You can't leave me!"

Ankoku shrugged as she looked at her sadly.

"This is the way it has to be" she said.

Hikari looked at her nobody sadly and started to panic as well.

She didn't want her to leave. She just met her. She didn't want to say goodbye to her other half.

"I don't want you to leave!" she insisted.

Ankoku looked surprised that she would say that, but sighed sadly.

"I don't have a choice" she said.

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be awake right now. If I stay out any longer, who knows what will happen to you. I've accepted my fate, so you should too."

Hikari gave her a determined look.

"No!" she said.

"If I say I don't want you to go, then you won't! I want you to stay and so does Tsukiko. It's not fair that you had to disappear because of me. You deserve to exist, just as much as I do. I'll find a way to make you stay. I don't care what happens to me in the end!"

Ankoku looked stunned, but quickly composed herself. She always wondered why she wanted to see Hikari so badly, but maybe this was why. Maybe it was because she wanted to see her nobody just as much as she wanted to see her somebody. They wanted to see each other badly.

Taiyouko looked at her daughter and her nobody, before looking at Tsukiko. She couldn't help but think back to when Tsukiko was made and how she wanted her nobody in her life, despite having to return to where she came from. She could see the same longing in her daughter's eyes. The longing of having a connection with someone.

She sighed, knowing that she was going to regret what she was about to do.

But as long as it made her daughter happy, it was worth it.

"Fine, have it your way" she said.

She walked up to Ankoku and gave her a gentle smile.

"I haven't done this in a long time, so you'll have to bear with me."

Ankoku raised an eyebrow at her.

"Huh?"

Taiyouko closed her eyes in concentration and clasped her hands in a prayer like motion. Her hands glowed as she poured her magic through her whole being. The sorceress opened her hands to reveal a heart floating in front of her.

Taiyouko opened her eyes and smiled softly to Ankoku.

"Consider this as my thanks for saving my daughter." she said.

The heart floated from her hands and submerged itself within Ankoku.

The nobody closed her eyes tightly as she felt the heart go inside her chest. Immediately, she felt her body start to change. She started to feel actual feelings and emotions. She was able to feel a heart beating within her chest. She was able to feel rush of excitement coursing through her veins. And most of all, she felt alive.

She opened her eyes to see that she wasn't transparent anymore and was actually standing front of them.

She gasped and looked at her hands in amazement.

"H-how?"

Taiyouko smiled weakly, feeling drained from using her sorceress powers in such a long time.

"Since you were willing to sacrifice yourself to save Hikari, I decided to thank you" she said.

"Like Tsukiko, you have a heart now. You are your own person now."

Ankoku placed a hand over her chest to feel a heartbeat. It was so strange and new to her. She was her own self now. She wasn't somebodies nobody anymore. She was a person.

Hikari smiled brightly and hugged Ankoku tightly.

"It's so nice to meet you…Ankoku." she said.

Ankoku felt tears of her own as she was being hugged. It was thanks to her Somebody that she was here. She was alive because Hikari wanted her here.

She cried and hugged Hikari when she realized that she was loved.

"It's so nice to meet you too, Hikari." she said.

She held her other half tightly as she basked in this moment.

"Thank you." she whispered to her.

Hikari smiled and let her go.

"I think there's someone else who is happy to see you too." she said.

She nudged towards Tsukiko, who had tears in her eyes.

Ankoku smiled and ran towards her best friend, hugging her tightly.

"Tsukiko!"

The nobodies cried as they hugged each other. After being through so much, they were finally together again. They may have not had Roxas and Axel with them, but at least they had each other.

Everyone smiled at the scene.

Taiyouko swayed a little and almost fell if Kairi didn't catch her.

Hikari and Riku panicked.

"Mom!" Hikari cried.

"Are you ok?" Riku asked.

Taiyouko smiled weakly.

"It's just been a long time since I used my powers" she said.

"I'll be fine."

Tsukiko and Ankoku let go of each other and faced them.

"Let's get out of here before this places collapses" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko grabbed her hand and pulled her through the portal where the others were.

Kairi led Taiyouko towards the portal and looked at her friends.

"Let's go home" she said.

The keyblade masters smiled at that.

It was time to go home.

Hikari held Riku's hand tightly and smiled at him.

"Let's go" she said.

Riku smiled and nodded.

"Right"

They started to head towards the portal where it would lead them home. However, the unexpected happened.

Just as they were about to go through it, the portal suddenly closed on them.

The last thing they saw was Kairi and Taiyouko's panicked faces.

"Sora! Riku! Hikari!"

The keyblade masters panicked when they were trapped into the nobody realm.

It seemed that the battle wasn't over just yet.

/

**A/N: Ankoku's back! I'm sure you guys weren't expecting that! But then again, did you guys really think that I was going to let her disappear? **

**And for those of you who played Birth By Sleep; don't worry, this won't affect the story line. Ankoku plays a very pivotal role in the next story (not the Birth By Sleep one) so you'll be seeing her again soon.**

**I hope you guys don't hate me for this and please review.**

**If you do, I'll get the next chapter out!**

**Ja ne!**


	53. Fighting for a better tomorrow

Chapter 53: Fighting for a better tomorrow

**A/N: We're getting very, very close to the end! Just one more chapter and the Epilogue before we wrap this baby up!**

**I want to thank everyone who's been reading and supporting this story since the very beginning. You guys rock!**

**And I'm really glad that you guys were happy that Ankoku came back. I just couldn't bring myself to make her disappear. Plus Tsukiko needs someone since Axel gone.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my OC's**

/

Hikari was in full out panic mode when the portal closed.

All of their friends were able to get away safely, but she was stuck here. This was not good. Not good at all.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

Why would they be stuck on a world that was on the brink of collapsing? Did they still have a reason to be here?

The sound of something exploding caused the three keyblade masters to run to the edge of the castle. The sight that they saw made their blood run cold.

There, off in the distance was none other than Xemnas's dragon. The great monstrosity was heading towards them, and at a very fast pace no less.

"I should have known that it was too easy when we fought him." Riku said.

"There's no way that the leader of the Organization could go down that quick."

Hikari looked at her boyfriend.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Riku shook his head.

"I have no idea."

The dragon flew towards the castle and smashed his tail into the building that they were on. The three of them held onto the ledge for dear life as it shook from the impact.

The dragon flew off as the building started to break off. Sora, Riku and Hikari slid as the building started to head towards the ground. If they didn't get off of it soon, they were as good as dead.

Riku swore under his breath, wishing that he still had powers over the darkness. He could have easily crated a portal for them to escape, but that didn't seem to be the option.

He did, however find a backup plan as they slid towards their death.

There, standing on the ledge was a hover bike that members of the Organization used from time to time.

Riku didn't hesitate as he ran off to retrieve the bike.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

Riku jumped off and landed on the bike without breaking a sweat.

Turning it on, he quickly flew towards where Sora and Hikari still where.

"Hikari! Sora!"

The two keyblade masters quickly jumped off the ledge and landed on the bike. Hikari wrapped her arms tightly around Riku's chest while Sora landed on the platform that was attached to the bike.

Riku quickly flew off as the castle broke apart and went after Xemnas.

They were able to catch up to the dragon rather quickly. The thing was going so slow it was as if it was egging them on. As if it wanted them to fight it.

Hikari hugged Riku tightly as he drove up near the tail of the contraption.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing?" she asked.

Sora pulled out his keyblade and knocked away a couple of nobodies that Xemnas summoned up.

"Or if we'll get a change to attack it." he added.

Riku studied their opponent while trying to keep his friends alive. He had never fought something like this before, so he had to think carefully. One wrong move and they were done for.

He studied the dragon closely and noticed that it was machine made. If they could somehow break it apart, then they would have a chance at getting Xemnas.

"We need to break this thing." he said.

"It's our only option."

Hikari ducked when the dragon shot lasers at them.

"Sounds like a plan, but how do we attack it when it's shooting lasers at us?"

Riku smirked darkly when he found a button on the bike.

"Like this."

He pushed the button and had a laser go off and hit the dragon.

The dragon moved out of the way when it got hit and sent missiles towards them.

"Look out!" Hikari cried.

She brought up her keyblade and formed a shield around them.

"That was close." Sora said.

Hikari nodded when Riku wrapped a hand around her arms.

"I guess we have a plan then." Riku said.

"Hikari will protect us, Sora will knock the nobodies away and I'll fire at that dragon."

Hikari buried her face into Riku's back. She didn't want to admit that she was freaking out by flying on this hover bike. She couldn't help but feel like she could fall off at any minute.

But then again, with Riku having a vice grip on her arms, she was sure that wouldn't happen.

It was a long and strenuous process, but they managed to take the cannons, tail and even the wings off the dragon.

They watched as it crashed to the ground. They thought that it would be destroyed beyond repair, but it seemed that the dragon didn't need all of its parts to still fight. With the upper part still intact it surrounded the whole world in darkness.

Hikari held onto Riku tightly. Even after coming this far in her journey, she still feared the dark.

Riku gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he brought them over to the dragons head. There, standing on the head as if it were a crown, Xemnas sat on his throne, wearing his full body armor.

The three keyblade masters jumped off the bike and faced him. As they did, a black hole appeared behind them and started sucking parts of the world up into it. If they didn't want to get sucked up as well, they would have to finish this battle soon.

Xemnas summoned up his blade and held it at his side.

"Cursed fools!" he said.

Hikari was the first to attack and dodged when he swung his blade.

After coming this far in her journey, she was not going to stop until Xemnas was gone for good. He was going to pay dearly for messing with her and thinking that he could just use her as a pawn. If there was one thing you shouldn't do, its treat Hikari like an object.

Xemnas just laughed at her attempts to attack him. He was still weary of fighting her, knowing she had to advantage to win, but seeing the struggle in her eyes just reminded her of Taiyouko. How despite knowing that she lost, she still didn't want to give up. All for the sake of protecting the ones she loved.

"Hikari." he taunted.

"Are you sure that Riku actually loves you?"

Hikari growled when she sensed the taunting in his voice. He was pulling this now?

"Of course I do!" she cried.

"And even if he doesn't love me, I still wouldn't give up on him! He's what drives me to keep moving forward everyday! He's the reason why I want to wake up every morning! He gave me a reason to live! It doesn't matter who he is or what he's done in the past. I accept him for who he is and I accept the mistakes he's made. If I didn't, then I wouldn't consider myself faithful to him!"

Riku looked at Hikari stunned. He always knew that she had faith in him, but he never realized how much it was. The fact that she was able to forgive him for his sins and still consider him as a saint was unbelievable. This just made him love her even more. It was rare to find someone who loves you just as much as you love them and he was never going to let her go.

He and Sora quickly joined in the fight. They didn't want Hikari to have all the fun and they knew that she couldn't beat him on her own. With the way her heart was acting up, they were surprised that she was still alright.

Xemnas proved to be a lot harder this time than when he fought them. It seemed now that he knew they were more than a couple of mere children; he was putting his all into this fight as well. It didn't matter that he was sitting on his throne and just swinging his arm. His power alone was enough to keep them at bay.

But even if he was stronger when it came to power, the keyblade masters were stronger when it came to their hearts. It didn't matter if they didn't know any powerful spells. It didn't bother them that they were feeling drained and were on the verge of passing out. All that mattered to them is their will to see a better tomorrow and to bring this mad man down for good.

And that's what they indented to do when Sora struck Xemnas in the chest with his mighty keyblade.

Xemnas let out an anguish cry, but they knew he wasn't done for. If they had learned anything with fighting the Organization, it's that they always had an ace up their sleeve.

/

Sure enough, Xemnas did have an ace up his sleeve.

Just as he was being struck down, he brought the keyblade masters into a world full of nothingness. The whole place was white and void of any living thing.

He discarded his armor and had on and Organization cloak that has black and white designs on it.

If he was going to finish these children off, he was going to do it in his realm where he had full control.

"Heroes from the realm of light" he said.

"I will not allow it to end this way-not yet. If light and darkness are eternal, then surely we nothings must be the same…eternal!"

Hikari looked at him emotionlessly. Even when he was on the verge of disappearing, he was still going on about his dream. Why couldn't he realize that no matter how hard he tried, he would never accomplish it? It doesn't matter how hard you try or how much time you put into it. You could never control a heart or Kingdom Hearts for that matter.

"You're right" she said.

"Light and darkness are eternal."

"Nothing probably goes on forever too" Riku admitted.

"But guess what, Xemnas?"

"That doesn't mean YOU'RE eternal." Sora finished.

Xemnas just laughed darkly at them.

"No more eternal than that radiance of yours." he said.

He lowered his head and went into his fighting stance.

Here and now, it was the final battle. Here and now, fate would decide who would come out the victor. Here and now, it would be decided if Light or Darkness won.

"Anger and hate are supreme." Xemnas said.

Hikari glared at him and gripped her keyblade tightly.

"Negative emotions will get you nowhere." she said.

Xemnas just smirked and suddenly appeared in front of her.

Before she could do anything, he grabbed her by the throat and flung her into the air.

"Hikari!" Riku cried.

Xemnas laughed and summoned twilight thorns at Hikari.

"We shall go together."

Hikari quickly dodged the thorns that were aimed and her and blocked Xemnas when he appeared to attack her. They performed this deadly dance to the death for a bit before Riku managed to land a surprise attack and black Xemnas with his dark aura skill.

Hikari jumped out of the way and summoned Oblivion.

"_If I'm going to win this, I'll have to go all out."_ she thought.

Sora and Riku teamed up as they fought with Xemnas.

The Nobody almost acted like an animal as he fought. He would slash at them with his hands or blast them with his dark magic. And when it came to close combat, he would use his eternal blades or wrap them up with Twilight Thorns.

It seemed now they understood why he was the leader of the Organization.

Riku jumped out of the way when Xemnas fired off a few lasers at him.

"Why don't you vanish?" the nobody taunted.

Riku glared at him as he clashed blades with him.

"Because I have something worth living for!" he said.

He flipped out of the way and cast dark aura at him.

"And I won't let you take that away from me!"

He cast dark shield when Xemnas fired more of his lasers and performed dark aura on him.

"It doesn't matter how many times you beat me. I'll still get up. As long as I have my reason to live, then that's all that matters to me!"

Hikari grew touched by his words when she heard that. Even if he didn't say that his reason for living was for her, she knew what he meant.

Because, after all…he was her reason for living. And she wasn't going to let anyone take him away from her.

She gripped her keyblades tightly and ran towards Xemnas. She wasn't going to allow this monster to kill the man that she loved.

Xemnas saw her and just laughed.

"What can you hope to accomplish with such a blackened heart?" he asked.

He snapped his fingers and caused the darkness in Hikari's heart to act up.

Hikari staggered and fell to her knees when the pain in her chest became unbearable. It hurt to breathe properly and she could feel darkness dripping from her lip. She clawed at the floor when the pain became worse and she tried to stand up.

"Oh, what's wrong? Is the pain too much for you?" Xemnas asked.

Black energy formed in his hand.

"Then why don't I fix it for you…by ripping out your heart."

He shot the energy at her chest and tried to rip out her heart.

Hikari screamed a little when she felt Xemnas trying to rip her heart out of her chest. It was bad when he did it the first time, but this time it was just horrible.

This was no way for a person to die.

"Hikari!" Riku screamed.

He quickly ran towards them before Xemnas ripped Hikari's heart out, but the Nobody summoned up a clone to stop him.

Sora quickly blocked the clone and looked at his best friend.

"I'll handle this! You go save her!"

Riku gave him a grateful nod and quickly ran towards Hikari. He was glad to see that she was trying to fight Xemnas as well, but it was obvious that she wasn't doing well.

Riku gave Xemnas a murderous stare as he blocked Xemnas's attack by grabbing his hand and hitting him with his keyblade before tossing him away.

He quickly ran towards Hikari and helped her stand up.

"Are you ok?" he asked frantically.

Hikari was pale, but she managed to give him a weak smile.

"As if that could kill me." she joked.

Riku laughed weakly and hugged her tightly.

"I thought I almost lost you." he said.

Hikari hugged him as well.

Sure, they were in the middle of a huge battle, but they deserved a moment like this. It just reminded them of what they were fighting for and why they needed to stay alive.

"Hey! If you guys are done getting all lovey-dovey, why don't you help me out over here?" Sora cried.

He yelped when Xemnas took a swing at him and dodged at the last second.

Riku looked at Hikari and held out his hand to her.

"Come on, Hikari. Let's finish this together."

Hikari smiled softly and took his hand.

"Yeah."

They quickly joined Sora and fought with Xemnas some more.

Hikari's heart stung from having it almost ripped out, but she didn't let that affect her. It didn't matter how much pain she was in, she was going to see through to the end of this battle.

Xemnas toyed with them some more before he got tired of the petty fighting.

He hovered above them and summoned up a dome made of his eternal blades.

"There's no such thing as light." he said.

Sora, Riku and Hikari stood back to back with each other. If one of those blades hit them, then it was game over.

As the blades came raining down on them, they moved as fast as lighting by deflecting them. They would spin their keyblades at such speed that they appeared as nothing more than just blurs of color. Hikari amazed herself that she could even move as fast as she did. It seemed that when her heart sensed that it was in trouble, it would push itself to the limit.

"_I just hope it doesn't give up on me now."_

They managed to deflect all of the blades, but they were completely worn out.

Riku fell on one knee and tried to catch his breath, but Xemnas knocked him out of the way with one of his blades.

"Riku!" Hikari cried.

She gasped when Xemnas hovered over her and was about to strike her down, but Riku quickly got back up and blocked the blade with his keyblade. He quickly pushed Hikari out of the way when Xemnas clipped him in the side with his other blade.

Xemnas thought he was done for, but Riku had a trick up his sleeve. He sent Sora a look as he held his keyblade out and smirked when Sora jumped forward to grab it.

Hikari quickly picked Riku up as he fell and watched as Sora attacked Xemnas with the two keyblades.

"Riku." she said.

Riku cringed but managed to smile.

"It just stings, so don't worry." he said.

Hikari just hugged him tightly in response.

Sora flipped through the air and landed next to them.

Xemnas was pretty much done for and all that was left to finish him off was the final blow.

He held out his keyblade to Riku and Hikari.

"Hurry!" he said.

They quickly placed their hands over his and poured the light within their hearts into this next attack.

It was time to close the curtain on this final act.

Sora's keyblade glowed brightly before shooting out at Xemnas and piercing him in the chest.

Xemnas felt as if he was being burnt alive by the power of light and collapsed to the floor.

He looked at his hand and saw that it was starting to break apart.

After all this time, he had lost. It didn't matter how much time he put into gaining the upper hand, he lost to the power of light.

He gave the keyblade masters a weak glare as he started to fade away.

He said he wouldn't have it end like this, but it turns out he was wrong.

Hikari glared at Xemnas with so much hatred that she could feel it coming off of her.

After fighting countless battles, after weeding the Organization down to nothing, she had finally got her revenge.

To see Xemnas in such a weakened state as a victorious sight.

But that still wasn't enough for her.

Slowly standing up, she approached Xemnas's crippled form.

The nobody looked up at her as she hovered over his body. He never expected to see his pawn standing as the victor. He always thought that he would win in the end. But it seemed that fate turned the tables on him and now he was getting what he deserved.

Hikari curled her hand up into a fist and raised it over her head.

After being used and torment by this nobody, she wanted get the final hit.

Xemnas seemed to expect this, because he never flinched. It was as if he was asking for it.

Hikari looked at how weak and pathetic he was at this point. He really was an empty shell to what he really was.

Sighing, she lowered her fist and gave him a dull glare.

"You don't even have the honor of being hit by me." she said.

Xemnas smirked slightly, knowing that Taiyouko said those same exact words moments before. Like mother, like daughter.

Hikari's fists shook as she looked at him.

"I'll never forgive you for what you've done." she said.

"After using me, after pretending to be my father just so you could steal my heart and put friends and family through so much pain, after nearly destroying so many worlds just so you could obtain Kingdom Hearts, this is what you deserve."

She closed her eyes for a moment and composed herself.

"And yet…I have to thank you."

She opened her eyes to look at him.

"If you hadn't done those things and took me away from my world and family…"

She turned around and looked at Riku.

"Then I would have never found my soul mate and my reason for living."

Riku looked touched by his words and smiled softly at her.

Hikari smirked as well before looking back at Xemnas.

"So for that, I thank you."

Xemnas looked at her for a moment, before giving her a slight smirk.

"Just like your mother, even in the end." he said.

He raised his hand and had darkness coating it.

Riku and Sora quickly pulled out their keyblades and went to attack him, but it was unnecessary.

Instead of planning on attacking Hikari, he did the exact opposite.

Hikari watched as Xemnas summoned the darkness that still lingered within her heart and transferred it back to him.

"You don' t have the heart to control my powers." he said.

"Only one who has a full understanding of the darkness is worthy for it."

Hikari looked at the nobody stunned. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her chest. She no longer felt the stabbing pain in her heart or sensed the darkness within it. She was finally free.

"Give my regards to your mother" Xemnas said.

"I guess she was right when she said that she would win this battle. She proved it by having you for a daughter."

Hikari looked at him for a moment, before slowly nodding.

"I will."

Xemnas smirked slightly as he started to fade away.

He looked at Hikari one more time before mouthing something to her.

"_Don't ever fade"_

Hikari was stunned by his words, but never said anything.

The three keyblade masters watched as Xemnas vanished into nothingness.

After a long and tiresome battle, it was finally over.

They were finally free.

/

**A/N: Woo hoo! Xemnas is gone and Hikari's heart is back to normal! But what could Xemnas have meant when he told her not to fade? Could it have been someone else who said that? I guess you'll just have to wait for my Birth By Sleep story to find out.**

**Only one more chapter and the epilogue before this story comes to a close. I know you're all sad about it, but don't worry, the story isn't over.**

**If want to see what happens in the end, please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne!**


	54. The calm after the strom

Chapter 54: The calm after the storm

**A/N: This is it! We're at the final chapter of the story! All that's left is the Epilogue and we'll bring a close to the epic tale of 'A Trail of Memories 2'. I know you all are upset by this; I'm upset about it too. But just remember that the story isn't over. We'll be seeing Hikari really soon, so don't worry.**

**I hope you guys have a Happy Fourth of July! Got to love those fireworks. **

**Also, I just posted a poll on my profile, so if you guys could please vote on it, that would help me out a lot. And I might update the last chapter up rather quickly.**

**So, without further ado, here is the last chapter to A Trail of Memories 2.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Hikari couldn't believe it.

It was over.

After a long and dangerous journey, it was finally over. Xemnas was defeated, the Organization was destroyed, and Hikari's heart was back to normal. And more importantly, she found Riku.

Yes, out of all of this, she was glad that she finally found the one she loved most. She went through hell and back for him and she was glad with the end results.

Life was good.

Sora pumped his fist when he saw Xemnas disappeared.

It seemed he, too was glad that the battle was over.

"We did it!" He cried.

Riku smiled, but frowned when he saw Nobodies surround them. It seemed with Xemnas gone; they didn't have a master to control them. And no master meant wild nobodies. And wild nobodies meant trouble.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that" he said.

Everyone quickly pulled out their weapons and faced the nobodies.

Sure, they were extremely tired from fighting with Xemnas, but they figured that they could take on a couple puny nobodies.

The nobodies surrounded them so they couldn't escape before they charged at them.

/

In a matter of minutes, the nobodies were destroyed and returned to nothingness. They would never bother anyone or try to take any hearts again.

They were gone for good.

Things were looking up for the three until Riku suddenly collapsed and fell to his knees.

Hikari panicked and quickly knelt in front of him.

"Riku!" she cried.

She cradled his face and brushed the hair out of his face.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

Riku didn't say anything and just shook his head.

"Hikari…Sora…" he said.

"I can't"

Hikari felt her heart break. It was as if Riku was saying that he was giving up. After coming this far, he was going to quit.

She pressed her forehead against his and looked at him sadly.

"Please don't give up" she pleaded.

"Not after coming this far. I've worked too hard to get to this point. I haven't given up and neither should you."

Sora knelt next to them

"Hikari's right" he said.

"It's not over. It's just not"

He helped Hikari lift Riku up by placing his arm over his shoulder. He leaned more towards Sora so he wouldn't crush Hikari with his height and weight.

"How can you say that?" he asked.

"Even if we could go on…look where we are"

Hikari gave him a gentle smile.

"Oh, cheer up" she said.

"It's not so bad"

Sora smiled as well.

"You've been hanging out in darkness too long" he pointed out.

"You got to try and think positive"

Riku was quiet for a moment as he let this sink in.

Finally, he looked up at them.

"You lead" he said.

Sora and Hikari smiled.

"Got it"

They slowly started walking. They didn't know where they were going or if they would even get out of this realm for that matter. All that they knew was that the best option was to move. And so they did.

After a while of silence, Riku decided to talk.

"You know…I always figured that I was better at stuff than you" he said to Sora.

Hikari just rolled her eyes and smirked. After all this time, he was still boasting how he was better than Sora. Typical Riku.

Sora just snorted.

"Really?"

Riku looked at him.

"You mad?" he asked.

Sora shook his head.

"No. I always kind of thought you were better at everything, too"

Hikari laughed a little.

"I guess some things never change." she said.

They continued walking through the void of nothingness. They wondered how long they would have to stay in this realm.

"It's like it never ends." Hikari said.

"Almost like an endless road."Riku commented.

Sora looked around and noticed a bright light up ahead.

"Hey, what's that light?"

They didn't sense anything bad coming from it, so they decided to head towards it. After all, light was always on their side.

They let the light engulf them and took them towards the Dark Meridian.

Everything was so dark and dreary, but then again, it was also calming and relaxing. The sound of the waves lapping up against the shore put their hearts at ease.

But as clam and relaxing as it was, there seemed to be no other way out of here. It was as if they made it to a dead end.

"End of the road." Riku said.

"Looks like it." Sora replied.

Hikari looked at the ocean for a moment. It had been so long since she last saw one that she almost forgot how beautiful they were. The way that the waves would wash up against the sand then slowly recede always calmed her. The smell of the salty air filling up her lungs to the point that they would burst. The way that the sun would set over it, would make the ocean look magical. Or the way that the stars always seemed to dance across the water at night. It was everything to her. It was her life.

It reminded her that when she first met Riku, she was washed up by the waves as well. That was where her life began and how she became entwined with Riku. In a way, it seemed that the ocean brought her and Riku together.

Riku shifted a little when he noticed that Sora and Hikari were still holding him. He was still weak from the fight, but he didn't want to strain his friends with his weight. Especially Hikari.

"Put me down. I can walk." He said.

Sora and Hikari looked at him for a moment, before slowly backing away.

Riku staggered a bit, but managed to stand up straight properly and give them a smile.

Hikari smiled gently for a moment before walking over towards the ocean. She sighed in content when she let the waves crash over her boots. After fighting for so long, she really needed this.

Sora walked towards the ocean as well and looked out towards the horizon.

Hikari could tell that he had a lot of thought running through his head. She was sure that he was just as relieved as she was that the fighting was over. There was no more Organization Xlll, no Nobodies, no bad guys trying to obtain Kingdom Hearts. Nothing. Everything was as it should have been.

Sora looked at the waves as they crashed over his shoes.

He chuckled weakly.

"You know…" he said.

"Maybe the darkness has gotten to me, too."

Hikari blinked in shocked. She never expected to hear those words coming out of Sora's mouth.

But then again, after everything they've been through, it was normal.

She looked out at the horizon where the moon cascaded over the ocean.

"I think it's gotten to all of us" she admitted.

"I would be surprised if it didn't after everything we've been through."

Sora smiled weakly.

The sound of someone collapsing caused the two keyblade masters to turn around.

Hikari panicked when she saw that Riku collapsed and wasn't getting up.

"Riku!"

She and Sora quickly ran towards him and helped him up.

Hikari held him tightly and checked to see if he was alright. She couldn't lose him now. Not when she finally got him back.

"Riku…" she said.

Riku closed his eyes for a moment before looking out towards the ocean.

"This world is perfect for me" he said.

"If this is what the world really is…just this, then maybe I should fade back into darkness."

Hikari looked at him sadly and touched his face. After all this time, he still thought that he didn't deserve to be in the light.

"Riku…" she said.

Riku shook his head for a moment to rid of the negative thoughts that were floating in his head. He didn't need to think these things. Not when Hikari was her. As long as she was by his side, then that was all he needed.

He sat on his knees as he looked out towards the ocean.

"If the world is made of light and darkness…we'll be the darkness" he said.

Sora and Hikari smiled weakly at him. At least he wasn't thinking of trying to run away again.

They sat next to him and looked out towards the ocean.

"Yeah" Sora said.

"The other side…the realm of light is safe now. Kairi, the King, and the others are waiting for us."

Hikari tucked her hair behind her ear when she felt the wind blowing it in her face.

"And my mom is free now" she said.

"She's no longer chained to everything that's happened. She's no longer a pawn to Xemnas's plan."

She placed a hand over her heart.

"I'm no longer a pawn to his plans."

"That's what I mean" Riku said softly.

He looked at his two friends for a moment.

"Could you help me?" he asked.

"I want to get down to the water."

Sora and Hikari nodded before they carefully picked him up and lead him towards the shore.

Riku smiled softly as he heard the sound of the waves.

"At least the waves sound the same" he said.

They helped him sit down by the ocean. Hikari sat next to him and made sure he was alright while Sora stood up.

"I'll go look around to see if there's a way out of here" he said.

"You guys just sit here and relax."

Hikari smiled softly and nodded.

"Don't go too far" she said.

Sora nodded and walked off to give the two lovers a moment to themselves.

/

Hikari sighed contently as she leaned against Riku's shoulder. After traveling far and wide just to look for him, she had him where she wanted him the most.

Right next to her by the ocean.

Although, she intended it to be the ocean's from the islands, but she figured this was good enough. Anything was good as long as she had Riku by her side.

Riku wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. After everything he did, he was glad to have her in his arms finally. He had to wait for nearly a year while she slept and now he was being rewarded for being a noble boyfriend.

Hikari pressed her face into his chest.

"I can't believe that it's actually over" she said.

Riku smiled slightly and ran his hand through her hair. He stopped when his fingers touched the red ribbon he gave her when they were kids.

"You still wear this?" he asked in disbelief.

Hikari smiled as she touched her ribbon.

"Of course I do" she said.

"This was all I have of you during my journey. Plus, this was the first gift that you ever gave me".

Riku smiled softly as he held the end of the ribbon. He never expected Hikari to treasure something so simple. He simply gave it to her so she could keep her hair out of her face, but she saw it as more than just a ribbon. This just showed how incredible of a person she really was.

"You really are something" he said.

Hikari blushed a little and shrugged.

"I have you to thank for that" she said.

She looked off towards the ocean as the wind blew through her hair.

"If it wasn't for you, I don't think I would have been here right now" she said.

"You were always my idol. I wanted to become strong and brave so that I could be close to you. You were always there to protect me, so I wanted to become the one who would protect you. You gave me so much when I first came to the islands. Even though I couldn't remember my past, you didn't let that bother you and you made me feel wanted. You gave me new memories to replace the ones I lost. You gave me a life when I thought I lost it. You helped me become who I am today. If it wasn't for you and your kindness, I know that wouldn't be as strong as I am now. Everything I did was for you. Because…that's how precious you are to me".

Riku looked at her for a moment before holding her tightly to his chest.

"And everything I did was for you" he said.

"Just as I'm precious to you, you're precious to me. You've always been my princess from the moment I laid eyes on you and I always wanted was to protect you and keep you safe. You were my reason to become strong and why I wanted to travel to different worlds. And even though I've done horrible things in the past, it was only because I wanted to protect you, even if it meant it would hurt me in the end. As long as I have you, I don't need anything else".

Riku held her tighter and buried his face into her hair.

"I'm so sorry for everything" he said.

Hikari buried her face into his chest and smiled.

"I know and I forgive you" she said.

"We all do things that we regret. Who knows? Maybe one day I might do something bad that I can't forgive myself. I'm just glad that you're safe and that you atoned for what you did".

She looked up at him and smiled.

"Although, there is one way to ask for my forgiveness" she said.

Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

Hikari giggled and pointed to her lips.

"You know what they say: actions speak louder than words".

Riku chuckled a little.

"Fair enough".

He cupped her face with his hand as he brought his lips to hers. Hikari felt her whole body warm up as their kiss deepened. It seemed that they were putting their whole feelings into this kiss and they wanted to show just how much they loved each other.

When they broke apart, Riku pressed his forehead against hers and gave her a soft and gentle look.

"I love you" he said.

Hikari smiled gently as she placed her hand over his.

"I love you too"

The two of them held hands as they sat close to each other.

After everything that they've been through, it was nice to finally act as lovers.

Sora came back a little bit later.

"I couldn't find anything" he said as he sat down.

Hikari gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way out of here" she said.

"You just have to believe."

Sora snorted and looked out at the ocean.

"I know" he said.

The three of them sat in silence as they basked in the peace.

/

The three of them didn't say anything for a while. It wasn't awkward or anything. They just wanted to enjoy the fact of knowing that there was no more fighting and that the worlds were safe because of them. They were enjoying the brake that they very much deserved.

Riku finally decided to talk and looked at Sora.

"What I said back there…about thinking that I was better at stuff than you…"

Sora raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Mh-hmm" he said.

Riku looked at the ground for a moment.

"To tell you the truth…I was jealous of you" he admitted.

Sora and Hikari looked at him in shock. Riku was jealous of Sora?

"What for?" Sora asked.

Riku squeezed Hikari's hand in reassurance as he shook his head.

"I wished I could live life the way you do" he said.

"Just following my heart."

Hikari squeezed his hand in return. It seemed that him joining the darkness made him think this way.

"_Poor Riku" _she thought.

Sora smiled bashfully and looked out at the sea.

"Yeah, well, I've got my share of problems, too" he replied.

"Like what?" Riku asked.

Sora looked at the ground.

"Like wanting to be like you."

Hikari giggled a little. She found it cute that Sora wanted to be like Riku. But she thought that Sora was better off as being just himself. He could never be anyone else.

Riku seemed to think that as well as he smirked.

"Well, there is one advantage to being me..." he admitted.

"Something you could never imitate."

Sora looked up at him surprised.

"Really? What's that?"

Riku smiled gently.

"Having you for a friend"

Hikari smiled softly at that. Riku could be a real sweet heart at times. Sure, he always acted tough and strong, but always made sure to be kind and caring to his friends.

Sora smiled at that.

"Then I guess…I'm okay the way I am" he said.

"I've got something that you could never imitate, too."

The three of them basked themselves in silence after that. So much had happened in so little time. Even though there was still questions left unanswered and something bad was bound to happen again, they just wanted to enjoy this moment. After fighting so hard to gain peace, they wanted to enjoy this moment and keep it all to themselves.

And that's what they did.

/

Hikari and Riku leaned against each other as they felt the ocean breeze. This was a nice way for them to start their life as a couple. After being separated for a year, they really needed this.

Hikari smiled contently and Riku closed his eyes. He was enjoying the breeze until he felt something bump into his foot.

Opening his eyes, he looked down to see that a bottle had drifted up to the shore and was tapping at his foot.

He picked it up and noticed that a letter was inside of it. Growing curious, he opened the bottle and pulled the letter out.

Hikari leaned against Riku and looked at the letter.

"What does it say?" she asked.

Riku smirked when he finished reading the letter and turned to Sora.

"Sora" he called out.

Sora looked at him as Riku handed him the letter.

"I think it's for you."

Sora looked surprised and took the letter. He never realized that it was the letter that Kairi wrote long ago and sent it out at sea.

Hikari and Riku looked at him as he read the letter out loud.

_Thinking of you, wherever you are. _

_We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend._

_Now I will step forward and realize this wish._

_And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard…or maybe it's already begun._

_There are many worlds, but they share the same sky-_

_One sky, one destiny._

As Sora finished reading the letter and portal of light opened up in front of them.

"Light" Riku breathed.

"The door to light" Sora corrected.

Hikari suddenly remembered the words Yen Sid told her before she departed for this journey.

"_You shall be the one who will open the door to the light"_

It suddenly dawned on her what was going on. She, Sora and Riku were able to open the door.

They could go home.

She suddenly stood up and held her hand out to Riku.

"We'll go together!" she said.

Riku looked up at her and smiled softly.

"Yeah" he said.

He and Sora stood up and walked with her through the door.

They were going back…back to where they belong.

/

The sun was setting on Destiny Islands.

The sea almost looked like it was one fire with the way the sun was dipping in the horizon. It was a beautiful and calming scenery.

Well, that all changed when three figures came flying from the sky.

Sora, Riku and Hikari came crashing down to the ocean after they went through the door of light. It seemed it lead them to where their hearts wanted to go.

And that place was home.

They quickly reached the surface and breathed in the salty air.

Hikari quickly looked around and realized that she was home.

At long last, she was finally home.

Sora and Riku were reacting the same way as they smiled and laughed at the situation.

"Sora! Riku! Hikari!"

The three of them looked towards the small island and saw Kairi smiling and waving towards them.

They all cheered and quickly swam towards her.

Sora was practically running as he got closer while Hikari dragged Riku with her.

Kairi smiled softly when she saw that her friends returned safely. And she wasn't the only one who was happy.

Donald, Goofy and King Mickey quickly ran at them. Donald tackled Sora to the ground while Goofy pulled Hikari into a hug. King Mickey jumped into Riku's arms and was lifted into the air when Riku caught him.

Taiyouko had tears in her eyes as she ran into the water to pull them all into a hug. She gave Hikari thousands of kisses while she hugged Riku tightly.

"You're alright! You're alright!" she cried.

Riku and Hikari hugged her tightly while Sora smiled brightly.

Tsukiko laughed with joy while Ankoku just smirked. As she looked at Sora, she saw Roxas for a second. She smiled softly when she saw her twin smile at her.

"_Take care, Sis." _

Ankoku wrapped her fingers around her shell necklace when she saw Roxas fade back into Sora.

Hikari laughed when everyone let her go. She looked at Riku who smiled brightly.

They were finally back.

Sora pulled out Kairi's lucky charm and gave it to her.

Riku unzipped his vest slightly and pulled something from around his neck.

Hikari gasped when she saw her pendant in pristine condition. She had tears in her eyes when she realized that Riku kept his promise. He gave it back to her when they returned home.

She looked up at him to see him smiling softly at her.

He placed her pendant back around her neck. It was as if a part of her returned from a long journey. It was as if she was finally whole again.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she smiled at him.

"W-we're back" she choked.

Riku smiled and nodded.

"We're home" he said.

Hikari laughed as she continued to cry.

Riku pulled her into a hug. The couple held tightly as they basked in this moment.

At long last, they were finally back.

They were home.

/

**A/N: WHAAAAAAAAA! I don't want this to end, but I know it has to happen! (Sniffles) I can't believe that it's finally came to this part. After nearly a year, the story is coming to a close!**

**But never fear, we still have the epilogue. And this won't be the last time that we see Hikari and Riku. We'll see them again very soon.**

**At least they finally made it home. After being away for a year fighting the bad guys, it's nice that they're able to return to their original world. **

**If you want to see this story have a happy ending, please review and tell me what you think!**

**Ja ne!**


	55. Epilogue

Chapter 55: Epilogue

**A/N: Yes, I'm sorry to say that this is the final chapter to A Trail of Memories 2. It's been amazing writing this story and getting so many great reviews. I'll admit, I was crying when I wrote this chapter. I loved writing this story so much that it pains me to finish it. But I have to keep reminding myself that it's not over and that we'll see our beloved hero, Hikari again very soon. **

**I just want to thank all of you for sticking with me until the end and for reviewing my story. I wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for all of you, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart.**

**This chapter is dedicated to all of you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.**

**Now let's enjoy this final chapter!**

/

The Xemnas and the Organization finally gone, the worlds were at peace once again. Thanks to Hikari, Riku and Sora, they were finally able to gain the happy endings that they all wished for.

/

With their mission complete, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey were able to return to Disney Castle.

It was painful for them to say goodbye to everyone, but they made a promise that they would see each other once a month to stay in touch. After all, they had gone through so much together that they didn't want this friend ship to end.

Daisy was thrilled to see Donald and practically threw herself into his arms. Now that her boyfriend returned, they could finally go on that date they promised.

Goofy and Pluto smirked as they watched the couple.

King Mickey smiled brightly as he faced Queen Minnie. Minnie was so happy to see her husband again after such a long time that she had tears in her eyes as she smiled.

The two of them held each other tightly as they basked in this moment of happiness.

/

In Twilight Town, Hayner and Seifer faced each other in a match of Struggle.

Pence and Olette were cheering Hayner on while Seifer's change did the same for him.

The two fighters had smirks on their faces as they stepped into the ring. It always thrilled them when they were able to face each other.

When the Mayor signaled the start of the match, they charged at each other, planning on having a great fight.

/

In the Hundred Acre Woods, Pooh and the others spent every day having fun and being together. Even though Sora and Hikari weren't there to enjoy the fun, they made sure that they were with them in spirit. As long as they thought about them, then they wouldn't have to be sad

They always played the same games that Sora and Hikari played with them even.

And every night, they would sit by the hill and looked up at the moon.

Pooh looked at the ribbon that Hikari tied around his wrist then looked up at the sky.

Sora and Hikari were right.

They would always be in his heart, so they were never far away.

/

In the Land of Dragons, Mulan and Shang had started to have romantic feelings for each other.

They were in the woods not far from the army's base and were about to share their first kiss, but that was interrupted when Yao, Ping and Chien-Po blew their hiding spot by falling out into the open.

A flustered Shang quickly reprimanded his men while Mulan and Mushu just laughed at the scene and enjoyed the moment.

/

At Beast's Castle, the curse was finally lifted from the Beast and he was able to return as a human.

It was a joyous moment in the castle for everyone. The Beast as able to learn to love and be loved by Belle in return.

And to show how happy everyone was, Belle and the Beast danced with each other in the ballroom just like they did countless of times, only this time as a cursed free couple.

/

At Olympus Coliseum, Hercules was able to restore the Coliseum to its natural state. The hero was proud on himself, knowing that even little things like this were hero worthy.

Meg was impressed and pleased that Hercules was back to his normal self while Phil was crying his eyes out.

Auron stood near the gateway that lead to the Underworld and smirked at the sight. Seeing Hercules reminded him of a certain boy that he knew when he was alive.

Knowing that he was not meant to stay in the world of the living, he turned around to head for the Underworld. He had a story to tell and it wasn't going to get finished by itself.

As he walked into the Underworld, Pyreflies floated off of his body and surrounded the Coliseum.

Everyone was amazed by the breathtaking sight.

But then again, only something this beautiful could be made by a worthy hero.

/

In Port Royal, Jack Sparrow sailed off on another expedition with Will and Elizabeth as his crew.

Everything was fine and dandy until Jack saw the moon peaking through the clouds.

Growing apprehensive, he held his hand out into the moonlight, checking to see if he was still curse free.

He smirked when he still saw flesh on his hand and pulled out his compass to lead him to his next voyage.

He was hoping that whatever journey he went onto next, he hoped that it would be as thrilling as the last one.

And he hoped that he would meet up with two certain keyblade masters again so he could obtain the keyblade.

/

In Halloween Town, Jack had finally ditched the Santa Clause suit and had gathered everyone for a meeting so they could make plans for next Halloween.

The Pumpkin King was all smiles as he told everyone his plans and ideas to make their years Halloween even better than the last.

After all, he had to compete with Santa Clause to see who created the best holiday event of the year.

/

In Space Paranoids, Tron was waiting to get the newest installment for the computer. Since he was in charge of this world now, that meant he had to be at his best.

He couldn't let another program like the MCP taking over.

When he grabbed the identity disk that was handed to him, he expected to get a new upgrade or something. But when he placed his on his back, he felt nothing at all.

Shrugging, he simply walked off to see how the system was doing.

While he was walking, he noticed that he started swaying his hips and doing funny moves as he walked.

It seemed that he finally got his dancing programmed installed.

/

In Timeless River, Captain Pete was getting ready for another trip in his boat.

He was expected his deckhand to be here by now, but he knew that he was always late.

Knowing that he had work to do, he started the ship without him. He couldn't wait on his hired help when there was work to be done.

As he was sailing away, Mickey came running towards the peer and saw the ship sail off.

Panicking, he did the unthinkable and ran off the peer and jumped into the boat.

As he sat up, he smiled and thought about what adventures he would encounter today.

/

In Agrabah, Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu went on a carpet ride and flew all over the Kingdom.

Genie flew next to them and had a little race with them as they flew around.

Everyone laughed and smiled as they enjoyed their day in the peaceful kingdom.

/

In Atlantica, Ariel was able to become a human, thanks to King Triton.

Triton loved his daughter so much, that he wanted her to be happy, even if it meant living the rest of her life with a human.

And that's what she did.

Shortly after she started a relationship with Eric, the two of them got married.

Ariel smiled happily as she looked at her friends and family in the Ocean.

Sebastian was crying his eyes out while Flounder smiled.

Triton had a few tears in his eyes as he saw his youngest daughter get married to the man of her dreams.

Ariel and Eric kissed each other, sealing their union.

Now land and Sea were connected because of them.

/

In the Pride Lands, the kingdom was restored, thanks to Simba's ruling.

The once, barren wasteland was now replaced with life nature.

Simba proved than even though he could never be like his father was, he was able to be a good king…maybe even better.

Simba and Nala celebrated this happy occasion with the birth of their daughter.

As they looked out at the Pride Lands, Rafiki blessed their daughter as the new heir to the Kingdom.

Everyone was overjoyed by this moment. Even Mufasa, who shone brightly in the heavens.

It seemed even he was proud of what kind of king his son became.

/

In Radiant Garden, Cid was typing away at his new computer. Since Merlin pretty much destroyed the last one, he had to get a new one and fix it to his liking.

As he was typing away, Yuffie came up to him and handed him a bar of Sea Salt ice cream.

The pilot accepted it and munched on the frozen treat.

"I haven't had this in a long time" he said.

Yuffie smiled and was about to eat her own when the Gullwings flew up and snatched it from her.

The ninja grew angry and chased after them.

"Give that back, you thieves!"

Aerith just laughed at the scene, knowing that her friend would never change.

Leon stood near the back of the house, lost in thought. He knew right away that Hikari had managed to defeat Xemnas and felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. After so many years of suffering from that man, he and his family were finally free.

And it was all thanks to his brave little sister.

He looked at the bracelet that he had on his wrist and thought about what she said to him before she left to defeat Xemnas.

With the heartless and nobodies out of the way, maybe now would be a good time to visit the Islands.

"I guess a little vacation wouldn't hurt" he said to himself.

"And since it's at a beach, that's a bonus".

While everyone was having a good time at headquarters, Mikomi sat near the ledge in the Great Maw.

After Cloud disappeared to fight Sephiroth, she came to this place every day, hoping that she would see her older brother again.

It tore her heart that she couldn't see him, but she reminded herself that her brother was fighting the darkness in his heart and he needed the love and support of his little sister.

She gripped the winged necklace that he gave her and looked up at the sky.

A tear fell down her face as she smiled weakly.

"You'll come back" she said.

"I know you will"

And she knew he always would. Because she was the light within his heart.

/

So many things happened on the Destiny Islands. With everyone finally home, so many things had to be done.

Taiyouko, Tsukiko and Ankoku walked around the beach and admired their new home.

"This is so different from Twilight Town" Tsukiko said.

Ankoku gripped her shell necklace and smiled.

"Yeah, but I'm sure it'll be fine" she said.

"We have each other, and that's good enough for me"

Tsukiko smiled at her best friend. Even though she didn't have Roxas and Axel with her, at least she had her best friend.

She placed a hand over her heart when she felt it suddenly grow warm. It seemed that Axel was with her, but in spirit.

"_Let's make some new memories, Tsukiko" _Axel said.

Tsukiko smiled and looked out at the ocean. It was time that she created new memories to company the old ones.

Taiyouko smiled at the two nobodies.

She was glad that after such a long time, she was finally free from Xemnas and his connection to Kingdom Hearts.

She pulled out Laguna's army tags and looked at them in thought.

She didn't want to believe that he was really gone, so she was going to find out.

After all, Hikari searched high and low for Riku, so why shouldn't she?

"I'll find you, no matter what" she said to herself.

She tucked the army tags into her dress and started to head for the houses.

As she walked, she felt a sharp pain within her head and heard someone's voice.

"_**Times **__up, Taiyouko" _

Taiyouko gasped when she realized who she heard.

She almost forgot that she had one other person to take care of.

It seemed that she wasn't free just yet.

/

On the small island, Riku went for the secret cave that he and Sora always went to when they were children.

The last time that he was here was when he and Hikari drew each other's faces on the walls.

He smiled as he thought about that day. That was when he realized that he had fallen in love with Hikari and wanted to be the one who protected her.

As he looked around the drawings on the wall, he relished in the feeling that he was actually home and that he was no longer connected to the darkness.

As he looked at the drawings that he and Hikari made, he saw that Hikari's picture was giving him a Paopu fruit.

He ran his fingers across the drawing and smiled lovingly at it. This was proof of how much Hikari really loved her.

He picked up a small rock and drew himself giving Hikari a Paopu fruit as well.

It may have seemed pointless, since they both proved that they don't need a Paopu fruit to be in each other's lives, but he wanted to at least show everyone that he loved Hikari and no one else.

And after everything that they went through, he was never going to let her go.

/

Hikari smiled as she closed her eyes.

She saw up on the Paopu fruit tree and let the breeze blow through her hair.

It was hard to believe that she was actually home after all this time. She kept thinking to herself that any minute now she was going to wake up and find that this was all a dream.

But when she opened her eyes and saw the sunset grazing over the ocean, she knew that this wasn't a dream.

She was finally home at long last.

She had traveled to different worlds and fought hard enemies to get to this point.

She opened her eyes when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and someone's head resting on her shoulder.

Hikari smiled softly when she felt Riku's hair tickle her neck. She leaned back against him as he hugged her closer.

After fighting countless battles, they wanted to enjoy this moment of peace and quiet. After all, they were finally allowed to be a normal couple.

Hikari chuckled a little as she looked at the sunset.

"You know…you would think that after seeing this sunset for so many years, it would start to get boring" she said.

"But every time I see it, I still find it to be breathtaking".

Riku smirked a little as he nuzzled his face close to Hikari's.

"It's even more breathtaking when you see it with the one you love most" he said.

Hikari smiled as she looked at Riku.

"Yeah, it does".

The two of them kissed each other sweetly and went back to looking at the sunset together.

A little while later, Sora came up to them and joined them at looking at the view.

Nobody said anything for a while. After being away from home for a year, they wanted to relive this childhood tradition they always had.

"Nothing's changed, huh?" Riku stated.

Sora shook his head.

"Nope" he said.

"Nothing will"

Riku sighed as he held Hikari closer.

"What a small world".

Hikari smirked as she placed her hand on his chest.

"But part of one that's much bigger" she said.

Riku smiled a little and placed his chin on top of her head. Leave it to Hikari to speak words of wisdom.

The three of them stayed quiet for a moment and listened to the ocean.

Sora thought of something and quickly looked up at Riku.

"Hey, Riku" he said.

"What do you think it was-the door to the light?"

Riku chuckled as he and Hikari jumped off the tree to look at him.

Riku smirked and pointed towards Sora's heart.

"This" he said.

Sora looked surprised for a moment before placing his hand over his heart.

"This?" he repeated.

Riku nodded.

"Yeah. It's always closer than you think" he said.

Sora blinked for a moment before smiling brightly.

"Sora! Riku! Hikari!"

The three of them turned around to see Kairi running towards them.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked.

Kairi held up a bottle that she was holding and handed it to Sora.

"Look" she said.

Sora took the bottle and noticed that a letter was stuck inside. He gasped when he saw that the King's seal was on it.

"From the King?"

He quickly pulled the letter out of the bottle and read what was on the page.

Hikari quickly peered over it while Riku and Kairi looked over their shoulders.

It looked like a new journey was just beyond the horizon.

/

**A/N: (crying) so without further ado, this is the conclusion to A Trail of Memories 2! It's been such a wonderful experience, writing this story and getting so many reviews and fanart. **

**(Hugs fans)**

**Thank you all so much! If it wasn't for you guys, I don't think I would have gotten this far. It's wonderful to know that you guys love my stories so much that you demand for more.**

**And more you shall get! **

**And for those of you who've played Final Fantasy 8, I'm sure you know who that voice Taiyouko belongs to. I'm pretty much hinting towards who the new villain is going to be.**

**Even though we've come to the end of one journey, another one is about to begin.**

**Stay tuned for the prequel of this series called 'Memories by Sleep'. Find out how Hikari got the keyblade and how Taiyouko knows so much about Terra and the others.**

**Thank you again so much! I love you guys and thank you for seeing through this until the end.**

**JA NE!**


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